All Night Gang
by wolfer-2
Summary: Pillow talk always leads to weird places, especially when there's no holds barred. After a failed confession at a festival, and an incident with a certain phone, it's time to have a talk. [Canon Pairings Implied]
1. Begining

To say the situation was strange was nothing short of an understatement. Shinichi had not sat on Ran's bed in years, not as himself, and barely ever as Conan. And yet, here he was, two curious girls his age peering at him from next to it, seating themselves on pillows and plushies, a futon spread under that. All three were dressed for bed, although Kazuha had yet to remove her ribbon, and yet it seemed to be the furthest activity from their minds right now.

"Kudou-kun…" Kazuha started, leaning forward a little, arms resting at the edge of the bed. "I have some questions that need answering." Her posture indicated her interest in the conversation, and next to her, Ran leaned forward a little too. He couldn't help but feel like a spectacle, especially considering their size difference at the moment. Shinichi was already outmanned two to one, and both were martial artists, but with his body currently at age six, chances of escape were nigh impossible. Chances of denial of identity also impossible, if anything because of his own morals.

"…What kind of questions?" He asked, a bit of a pause at his wording, as he felt beads of sweat fall down his neck. The tension of the room felt almost palpable, and it made him feel more and more trapped. Shinichi was nervous, but he also knew that it was futile to refute accusations. The girls seemed satisfied at that, although Ran was now blushing, and it triggered his own. Man, was this a can of worms and a half. Not to mention, being on Ran's bed, he felt he was surrounded by her presence, and with her in the room, it was even worse.

Kazuha then blinked, her gaze shifting around, and Ran shuffled in discomfort. Realizing they were thinking the same thing, both nodded to each other. Kazuha stood. "Wait here, I'll make sure that Heiji ain't listenin' in to us." That made Shinichi tilt his head, curious, but Ran didn't answer his silent question, instead fiddling with her fingers as Kazuha left the room. She gave him an awkward smile, he returned it, and his mouth parted slightly to speak, but Kazuha then returned. He sighed, leaving it for another time, and turned back to the one who seemed to be the ringleader of this operation.

It **had** been Kazuha who spearheaded the very quick and pitiful confrontation on his identity, and the earlier debacle of who slept were too. Ran did follow through on both, although she seemed a bit more hesitant about the first of those on the list. Almost apologetic. He had a slowly sinking feeling she had known for a while and just not voiced herself, as she had done this before.

"Heiji's just pacin' around like some caged animal or somethin'." Kazuha said, a glass of water on hand, which she then handed to their victim. Shinichi held it gingerly. "Guess he ain't thinkin' about sneakin' in on our conversation." Ran sighed at that, one of relief.

Oh.

OH.

 _'I am about to be grilled about Hattori, aren't I?'_ Shinichi sighed, sliding back on the bed a little so he could lean against the wall. It gave him some distance and support, and right now he needed it. His nerves were everywhere, his chest felt tighter than the steel grip of a crocodile, and he was still out of it from his identity being so easily displayed. Shinichi was not calm at all, he was far closer to hysteria. He figured it showed on his face, though, considering how Ran's brows knit with worry and Kazuha-chan looked a little bit guilty. It didn't take him long to realize his hands were shaking, too. He took a sip of water, then sighed. "You want dirt on Hattori, don't you?" He asked, once he was sure his voice was stable. Kazuha nodded at the response, although Ran seemed to hold back. In fact, she pulled back a little from the bed, as if to give him more space. This was worrying, but at the same time, it made him feel slight relief. She was respecting his need for it right now. Kazuha, however, was not. That was fine.

"Am I allowed to keep the last shred of dignity I have in return?" It was only fair. Kazuha began to protest, gruffing. "What's that supposed ta mean, Kudou-kun?" She hissed. She opened her mouth to continue, but Ran clasped a nervous hand on her friend's shoulder, then shook her head.

"Don't worry, Shinichi, we won't force you to do anything you don't want." She said, her voice shaky, but also calming. His shoulders sagged in slight relief, and he noticed her own posture did as well. Of course, it didn't remove all his turmoil at the moment, but at least it helped ease a fraction thereof. Kazuha pouted, but nodded, clasping her hands.

"So… whatcha talk about at Poirot, Kudou-kun?" Kazuha asked, eyes glinting like a predator. "Ran-chan here said it was a love prediction that Heiji wanted to bring me to the festival. Is that true?" Ran flushed at that, and Shinichi let out a nervous snicker, flushing as well as his gaze turned to the water. Ran knew a lot more than he thought, it seemed. His posture relaxed a little more, as the topic was not about him, and then he let out a dramatic sigh.

"Normally…" He started, voice still a little shaky. It'd take a while for the shock to wear off. "I wouldn't say much and call it a day. But considering that Hattori keeps barging in uninvited and spilling my name all the time…" He paused, dramatically, then broke into an uneasy grin. "I don't see why not."

"Sooo…?" Kazuha asked, leaning forward a little more, Ran following suit.

Might as well indulge in gossip. He edged a little closer to the edge of the bed, lowering his voice to a more whisper-like tone, just in case.

"He brought you here to try and confess."

The resounding 'really?!' and 'I told you!' made him snicker a little, and he really hoped Hattori wasn't invited to listen in after the outburst. Pressing his right index finger against his lips, Shinichi's soft 'shhh' was enough to bring the girls' attention back to the topic and situation at hand.

Ah well, might as well just spill his guts about this. Hattori needed all the help he could get.

"I really don't know what he's waiting around for." Shinichi continued, shifting his weight around a little on the bed, trying to find a position that was both comfortable and would allow him to jump out at a moment's notice. He wasn't entirely sure when the habit started, but whenever he was nervous, it was impossible to stop. "I don't agree with him denying what happened on the bridge, there's no reason to lie." No one was going to kill him for it.

His stomach dropped at the reaction of his listeners, as Ran looked away from him, and Kazuha looked at him skeptically, at first, before processing his words. You could see the gears turning as the blush began to show even to her neck. He was unable to continue watching, however, due to Ran refusing to look at him, so his own gaze dropped to the glass of water, guilt starting to consume him inside out.

Kazuha pressed on, however, looking at Shinichi with a sudden need to know. "How do ya know about the bridge?" She asked, trying to keep her voice down, but her sudden need to know was everpresent. "Did that Heiji tell ya?" He shook his head, unable to find words. "Then?" He shakily raised a hand to ask her to stop. She did.

He didn't lift his gaze as he spoke. "We were on videocall, actually." He said, voice soft. "The kids and I ran into a drug dealer, he dropped his memo. We turned it in to the police, but I took a picture of some sort of code in it. Hattori helped with solving part of it, as it had both Tokyo and Osaka subway stations. We… determined the exchange would be in Ebizu bridge, and the dealer would have a white rose as an identifier." He peeked a little at Kazuha, and realization seemed to dawn on her. Why Hattori had acted the way he did back then. His gaze went right back down when his eyes crossed Ran's, who seemed to be back to looking at him somewhat. Shinichi still felt ashamed.

"Hattori kind of stopped paying attention when he spotted you talking to the undercover cop, so he didn't hear me tell him that he was police, and the rest… you know. He didn't hang up when he said it." He paused. "So, technically, he has five witnesses aside from yourself and the cops there."

Kazuha seemed to be torn between being excited and being really angry, he could feel it from his position. Peering up at his audience, he nervously drummed his fingers on the glass, now able to tell Kazuha had taken the anger route. "A-ahah… Kazuha… -san…" Shinichi wasn't entirely sure the '-chan' could be used here, or what his position was in general other than an informat, so he decided to thread on the cautious side. "I think it'd be unwise to confront him about it now, anyway…" Shinichi trailed off, and Ran sighed, taking over for him by grabbing the other martial artists by the shoulders.

"Kazuha-chan! Hang in there." She said, encouraging, and bit her lip. The other seemed to snap out of it, glancing between the two tokyoites before sighing. "Lets just talk for now, okay?" It was almost like Ran's voice was a bomb diffuser.

"I still really wanna punch that guy…" Kazuha grumbled, and Ran gave her a sympathetic nod. The atmosphere relaxed a little, and Shinichi sighed, rubbing his temples. He ducked his head, however, as attention turned back to him. "Ya wouldn't have happened ta have encouraged this lyin', did ya?" She asked, squinting, and Shinichi had the decency to look mildly offended, even if what he felt was a lot more than that.

"I already said I didn't approve! I didn't even know he denied it until after the fact!" He tried to school his tone into something milder than what he was feeling, and he hoped it was working. Hard to tell. "What do you think I do, lie for fun? He's not the one in hiding for surviving a poisoning-" Shinichi froze, then immediately clamped his mouth shut, turning away from the two, an expression of horror on his face.

The room was dead silent.

"I-…" Kazuha started, then paused, her voice barely above a whisper. Ran wasn't speaking, instead trying to make sense of everything as she stared at the six year old on the bed. Wanting to do something, say something, but not even being sure if it'd be right. After they had found his second phone and unlocked it, the Shinichi one, Ran and Kazuha had discussed possibilities. The reasons. While Ran thought he hid for a good reason, Kazuha insisted it couldn't have been so serious, or he'd have left to keep them out of danger. It left them only with selfish options, stupid accidents, made the whole thing seem like an affair he could stop at any time.

That assumption had been oh so wrong.

"S-Shinichi…" She started, reaching out, but froze as he moved away, shaking his head.

"We're not talking about this." He said, firmly, almost vehemently. "Not here, not when I found two bugs around the house this morning."

It only seemed to punctuate how bad the situation was.

Kazuha took a breath. "I'm sorry, Kudou-kun." She finally said, swallowing. "I assumed the worst of ya without askin' ya." The room was tense, all three occupants unable to look at each other in the eye. A lot of unanswered questions drove the pressure further, making it difficult to speak. Ran herself was unable to bring up what she wanted to say, scared to make it worse, to break something she wasn't supposed to.

And then, Shinichi let out a breath.

"It's… fine. You didn't know." He finally said, leaning against the wall and staring up at the ceiling. "You weren't supposed to." He added, quieter this time, guilt laced to every word. "I didn't want to involve anyone into my problems, but I just keep getting blackmailed into burdening people with them, huh?"

The implication was clear. If Shinichi had his way, Heiji Hattori would not be aware either, or anyone for that matter. In fact, it seemed the truth was always forced out of him. And now they had done the same.  
Kazuha couldn't help but feel awful, and Ran wasn't much better off. It may have been the only way to know the truth, they realized, but was it fair?

"I wanted to tell you when it was safe, on my own terms. I'm sorry, Ran. Kazuha-san." He looked back to them, then bowed his head apologetically. "But now you're both involved, so…" He paused, no one interrupted him.

"I promise I'll tell you what I can, just not here. Not tonight." His hands shook. "Please don't ask until then. Please keep pretending I'm not me when we leave this room."

"Of course." Ran finally said, gulping slightly as she tried to swat away at the questions she wanted to ask him. What she wanted to know, so many things she wanted to know. She motioned for him to come closer.

Kazuha shuffled, running a hand through her hair and then tugging at her ribbon when she got to it. She watched as Shinichi edged closer to them, wordlessly setting the glass and his glasses onto the bedside table. It was only when his hands were free that she saw Ran snatch the poor, unsuspecting detective out of the bed and onto her lap. Kazuha laughed, especially at how bewildered he looked.

"I hope askin' about what I wanted to know is still okay, then." Kazuha said, trying to lighten the atmosphere with a grin. "I'm countin' on ya, Kudou-kun."

"A-a-ah… y-yes." Shinichi stammered from his awkward position, limbs stiff. He looked like a surprised cat, unable to understand his situation as Ran hugged him tight. He slowly relaxed his body, and was set back on the bed after Ran had her fill. There went that last shred of dignity he wanted to keep, but he found he… didn't really mind.

Now that it was actually out, though, it felt the situation and atmosphere was far less tense. It felt less of an interrogation… and more of a talk between friends. Shinichi fixed his pajama top, then huffed as he leaned forward, near the edge of the bed. "You want dirt on Hattori? Where do I even start?"

Kazuha laughed, and Ran gave a bit of a grin.  
All three felt a lot more comfortable now.

* * *

"So he pulls me away…" Shinichi narrated, idly resting his head on the small pillow he held atop his crossed arms, somewhat laying on the bed. "And asks me why he can't focus because you," he motioned to Kazuha idly. "Were right next to that smug magician guy. That it was driving him nuts." Ran and Kazuha seem very invested in this story, although he really could do without the distraction of Ran's hand going through his hair idly. It made it harder to tell the story. Kazuha was somewhat on the bed, a bit to his left, mostly her torso and up, while the rest hung or rested on pillows on the floor. The ribbon was still there, she had declared she would not untie it until she had heard enough Heiji stories. Ran herself only had her arms up on the bed and head, idly petting him with her left hand while seated on some cushy, large pillows. She rested her head on the palm of her right hand, and both seemed to share a look, snickering softly.

They saw where this was going, they had all but overheard the yell, after all.

Still, he continued, as while they knew the reaction, they didn't exactly know WHY Hattori had yelled at him. "So I tell him maybe it's how you said 'that man' or 'about that man' in a slightly flirty way? And it's why it might bother him, because he'd be, you know, jealous." He paused. "I didn't mention the last part, I thought it was obvious." Kazuha puffed like a fish, and Ran started to snicker a little louder, ruffling his hair ruefully. He gruffed, trying to fix it. "He didn't seem to get it…" He said after he swatted idly at Ran's arm. She stopped ruffling, at least. "So I told him he was 'such a brat'. And that's when he tried to strangle me." Kazuha had gone from offended to extremely amused in two seconds flat, while Ran seemed to be unsure between amused and scolding.

"Mou, Shinichi!" She said, poking at his cheek. "Maybe you were a bit rude too that time." He stuck his tongue out in response, huffing and turning up his nose. "He deserved it." He said, childish undertones in his voice. Kazuha laughed out loud, and he sat up, rolling his shoulders a little. "What's worse is what came after."

Kazuha and Ran both tilted their heads. "When he told me I was his little follower?" Kazuha asked, and Shinichi gave a sage nod. "When we realized how the trick was done, we asked Inspector Megure to let us ask detective Chiba and detective Takagi to help us with it. After the inspector left, he turns and tells me 'I finally figured it out!'." He sighed, rolling his eyes. "I thought he meant about the case, but then he tells me 'I figured out why I can't focus because of Kazuha!'. He sounded so proud of himself."

"Good for you, I told him, figuring he had a general idea. I mean, he sure was acting like he realized he had a crush on you at the very least, but as you both know…" He paused, then sagged his shoulders in exasperation. "He did not."

"The little follower thing happened then, huh?" Ran asked, her voice sounding a mixture between disappointment and disbelief. "That Hattori-kun…" Shaking her head with a slight half-grin on her face. Kazuha rubbed her temples, shaking her head. "I can't believe that ahou didn't even understand his own feelin's."

"Really, it's not like I can say much with how much I tried to deny it openly, but at least I knew!" The teen rambled, stealing the pillow Shinichi had been using earlier and smashing it against her face. "Agh! AHOU!" She yelled onto the cotton and fabric, and Shinichi couldn't help but sympathize a little.

The sympathy was short-lived when something seemed to have dawned on Kazuha. Shinichi gulped.

The pillow dropped, and she turned to Shinichi and Ran with wide eyes. "I just realized somethin'…" She said, then slid closer to the shrunken teen, poking his shoulder tentatively. "Ya were the one who saved us when we were trapped by that crazy lawyer, weren't ya?"

Ran blinked, directing her gaze to Shinichi, who tilted his head, then shrugged. "Uh… yeah. The code Hattori sent over to us... I realized what it meant, so I did what he asked me to after telling him to lower the amount of people inside." Shinichi said, simply, shifting around a little. "I wasn't aware of just how bad it was, though…" His tone was apologetic then, and Kazuha shrugged, a grin on her face showing, which was slowly getting wider.

Shinichi was slowly growing more and more nervous.

"And when you first came to the house and rang the second time… when Ran-chan picked you up, Heiji said something interesting." She said, her grin suddenly becoming sinister in his eyes. Ran, of course, suddenly seemed very, very interested, leaning closer to Kazuha and, therefore, closer to Shinichi, who sat between the two's positions.

"'Embarassed but a bit happy at being hugged by her… that's why he has that sappy look on his face.' Right?" She said. He had no warming when two strong arms pulled him backwards as he stared at Kazuha in disbelief, squeaking when he found himself being held by Ran for the second time that night.

"Like this?" Ran asked, squeezing him closer as Shinichi squealed and hid his face in his hands, turning around as red as a tomato in the span of a second. Kazuha laughed so hard she started wheezing. "You're so cute, Shinichi~" Ran teased as she shifted her hold, pulling away from the bed so she could hold him fully, instead of half of him being supported by the bed. His legs dangled a little as he squirmed, but dared not kick through the struggle.

"Raan…" He whined weakly in protest, and Kazuha couldn't stop her laughter from receding. She forgot they didn't really want Heiji coming in at the moment, instead just enjoying the spectacle as Ran shifted her hold to bridal style. Even the poor boy's ears turned pink as he shifted slightly, but didn't do much more. Kazuha wasn't sure if it was because he didn't want to accidentally hurt anyone, which she doubted he could, or because he actually was enjoying this and just denying it.

"Hey, Ran-chan~?" Kazuha started, her laughter a little more controllable between words and wheezes. Ran turned to her, smiling innocently as if she wasn't holding her shrunken childhood friend tightly to herself. "Yes, Kazuha-chan?" She asked, equally singsong. She almost didn't seem affected by this, except for the light tint of pink on her cheeks.

"Can I borrow Kudou-kun?" She asked, making grabby hands.

"Well…" Ran started, holding the much shorter teen closer. "Why not?" Shinichi gruffed then, clearly not pleased at the prospect as he peered at Kazuha from between his fingers, which parted to make an opening for his eyes.

"O-oi, don't I get a say in this?" He said as he squirmed. Ran shrugged, and Kazuha tilted her head. "What, ya got a condition so I can do it too?" The Osakan asked, bringing Shinichi's movements to a pause.

He blinked, he hadn't really thought about compensation, he had just considered getting in a 'no' and being set down. Hm. "What can I ask for?" He asked, eyebrows raising. The tint in his cheeks and ears did not go away, considering he was still extremely close to the person he really liked, but his hands lowered as he regarded Kazuha with careful consideration.

"Somethin' we can get tonight. No use for favors tomorrow or anythin', ya know?" She proposed, grinning triumphantly. Ran seemed fine with this, and raised no protest, but Shinichi seemed unconvinced for a few moments.

Figuring it'd be the best he'd get, and deciding he'd rather ask for it now, he shrugged and eyed the now empty glass of water on the side table. "Iced coffee and a slice of lemon pie?" He asked, brows raising, and Ran laughed a little.

"Is coffee even good for kids?" Kazuha asked, curious, but not denying his request. Ran shrugged. "Does it really matter if we're planning to stay up anyway?" She counter asked, shrugging. "Besides, it wouldn't be the first time he's had coffee to stay up, or iced coffee in general." Shinichi then piped up from her arms, peering at both of them. "It's actually not as harmful as media would have you believe. I was reading about it a few years ago."

Ran blinked, then laughed. "At least you don't have to say _'I saw it on TV.'_ " She teased. The teen-turned-boy scowled at that, and Kazuha snorted in amusement, then made the grabby hands again. "Ok, hand him over, it's my turn." She said as she moved to stand. "We might as well all get drinks at the kitchen."

Ran shrugged, but Shinichi raised a brow as he was passed around, glasses handed to him, which he placed back on. He thought they'd stay inside and only one of them would leave at a time to fetch refreshments or something. Then again, the 'interrogation' facade was long since over, so it didn't really matter.

"I feel like a plush toy." Shinichi grumbled, now carried loosely by Kazuha, who had positioned him to sit on her right arm and placed his arms around her neck for balance. Might as well roll with it, even if it was embarrassing. No matter what the hold either of them had, he'd be pressed against their chest, and it was probably part of why it was embarrassing other than the fact that he felt like a small sack of potatoes. Ran picked up the empty glass, and they made to go.

Single file, Ran and Kazuha left the room, passed by Heiji (who seemed to watch them with a weirded out expression, jolted awake from his half-asleep state by them marching past) and reached the kitchen. Shinichi, perched with Kazuha, had a very good vantage point of the other detective's location, and so once he asked for Kazuha to set him down, he trudged to the parting between the kitchen and the living/dining area before speaking up to Hattori. "Heiji-niichan, you won't sleep on the futon in Uncle Kogoro's room?" He asked, innocently. "The table might be uncomfortable."

"Shaddap, K-…kiddo." The western detective replied, rubbing his eyes, then gave the girls a curious glance. However, instead of doing as expected and giving him a sign, or anything, as to what was going on, 'Conan' turned around and walked back to the two girls, climbing onto the counter to fetch some things too and make himself useful.

"Get back 'ere, ya lil traitor!" Heiji said with a huff, standing up, but Kazuha called at him from the kitchen, stopping the other detective in his tracks. "It's the All Night Gang rules, Heiji." She said, walking back to the room with two coffee cups on hand. "We can't discuss it until it's over." Ran nodded sagely behind her, carrying a glass with iced coffee and a small plate with a slice of lemon pie, as if they had already discussed said rules or given the group a name. Shinichi was pretty sure Kazuha just made the name up, though, since nothing about that had ever been discussed. Oh well. He himself carried napkins and the fork he would use. Heiji's sputters of protests were met with a wall of silence until they returned to Ran's room.

Back inside, door closed, Shinichi sighed and shook his head. He would rather just go and discuss things with Hattori, or go to sleep, but it'd likely be an unwise move. They WERE in the middle of a conversation and agreement, it'd have to wait until later.

The plates and glasses were set on Ran's desk, and soon, they wordlessly set about, clearing the room for safe food and drink consumption. It wouldn't do to spill coffee or crumbs all over Ran's room. It was mostly Shinichi and Ran, admittedly, as Kazuha had no idea where the tray Ran kept in her room was, or that this was even a thing. She watched as the tray was unfolded, the glasses were set and some pillows were placed around for sitting, a bit ways off the table, and a bit closer to the desk.

"You guys have done this before?" She asked, curious, as she settled herself on the seat that was left free for herself. Ran nodded, deciding to explain, since Shinichi was currently busy devouring the lemon pie slice.

"We'd either study at his place or mine, and we usually just brought snacks up and ate while we studied." She explained, Shinichi nodding idly as he polished off the small slice he had been offered. "So we both keep small trays in our room to serve as mini tables. It really helps if you don't want crumbs everywhere, especially in summer." Kazuha scrunched up her nose at that.

Summer, right. When roaches became massive pests through most of Japan. "That sounds smart. We never kept anythin' like that." She said in comparison. "Although it's probably because we used trays from the kitchen." The osakan continued, shrugging. Heiji tended to care far less for that sort of thing, to his mother's annoyance, but at least Kazuha did.

Chatter, it seemed, would continue at the makeshift table for a bit.

"We had trays in the room because I was too lazy to bring one back and forth from the kitchen." Shinichi said, shrugging. "It took too long and most snacks we had lacked plates, so it was more convenient to keep it in my room and just wash it afterwards. Ran followed suit because she thought the idea was cute, so it stuck." Ran laughed at that. "It IS a cute idea." She insisted, grinning widely, but her best friend refused to fall for the bait, instead shrugging as he set down his glass for the moment. It was then Ran noticed there was some foam from the iced coffee sticking to his cheek. Reaching down to clean up on habit, she froze as the smaller teen turned to look at her in the eye and, without breaking eye contact, Shinichi grabbed a napkin, then slapped it to his face. Stain taken care of, he went back to his drink, and Ran laughed awkwardly. "Sorry, Shinichi."

She received a shrug and a grin for her troubles.

And then, Kazuha spoke up. "Ya should lick it off next time." She said, grinning widely.

"What?!" Shinichi sputtered, almost spitting out his drink, as he set his glass down.

Unfortunately, it set up the perfect opportunity.

Ran saw her chance and took it.

The door swung open. Heiji Hattori, in his impatience to know what was going on, stood on the other side, frozen in place as he stared at the scene in front of him. Three pairs of eyes turned to look at him.

The standoff lasted for about thirty seconds before Heiji grabbed the door handle, closed the door, and walked away. He seemed a little pale.

"Well, that's one way to drive him off." Kazuha commented idly as Shinichi, the resident tomato, scrubbed his cheek furiously with a napkin and Ran pulled back and laughed awkwardly, clasping her hands together.

"I didn't think you'd actually do it…" Shinichi grumbled, then drank down the rest of the iced tea before anything else happened, wiping his face afterwards. Ran pouted, although he was not entirely sure at what, and he raised a brow in response. Kazuha started snickering.

"What, you think people aren't into licking cream off other people?" Kazuha asked, and Shinichi groaned, rubbing his temples.

"I regret all of this already." He said, sounding older than he should in that body. Ran patted his head in sympathy, but something told him she wasn't really feeling it. "And it's barely been three hours."

"Shinichi!" "Shinichi-kuuuun…" His companions voiced in protest.

He chuckled softly, then shook his head, waving it off. "Speaking of Hattori…" He started, deciding to divert the topic before they started to talk more further into the territory of this conversation. "Apparently, the guy thinks we went to London just so I could confess, or at least has that idea in his head." He said, shrugging as he eyed the two coffee cups Ran and Kazuha still had. They weren't in any rush to finish, unlike him.

"No way!" Ran said, eyes widening as she placed a hand over her mouth as a blush tinted her cheeks. Kazuha, however, looked at them both, brows rising. "Seriously?" She asked, although it seemed to be surprise that it was not. Well, knowing the guy's situation now, there was no way he would have done it for that, however it was that he changed back and forth, but it had made sense at the time.

Why did Heiji think it was a thing?

Shinichi shrugged, it wasn't like he had all the answers. "Sure explains why he's being such a tryhard about confessing to you, though." He said, casually, although he kept his eyes trained on Kazuha for the reaction. She did not disappoint, clamping her mouth shut to try and not be too loud on that wheezing squeal. Ran promptly offered her congratulations, as if it had already happened.

The clock struck 1.

* * *

"Diamond rings are a bad idea. They're overpriced, for one." Shinichi drawled, seated atop the bed, glasses once more off his face. Kazuha had made a nest for herself on pillows atop of the futon on the floor, and Ran sat on her desk chair, leaning forward against the backrest, sitting in the opposite direction than chairs were intended. The talk had gone on, surprisingly, for far longer than he had anticipated, and now the tray was put away, the dishes washed, and they went right back into it. He wasn't even sure of the time now, and while he could easily check, it wasn't really one of his top priorities. At the very least, Kazuha's ribbon was off now, and they had moved on from topics on Heiji to the more mundane. It seemed they were slowly breaching that of marriage, though.

He didn't mind.

"Really?" Kazuha asked, raising a brow as she shifted her position on the pillow next, now resting on her back, but propped up by some pillows so she was slightly sitting up. "I thought they were rare." She looked to Ran for confirmation, who shrugged and nodded, having heard the same thing. Shinichi blinked, then shrugged. "Not at all, and I can tell you why." He said as he reached to the bedside table, grabbing his phone. "Where's the other phone, by the way?" He wasn't sure just where it ended up in between the initial confrontation and when it was finally over, he hadn't really been in a state to pay attention.

"It's on my desk." Ran answered, turning her seat slightly to grab it. She then flung it to the bed, where it bounced on the mattress once before settling. "Oh, uh, thanks." It took Shinichi a few moments to react enough to grab it off from where it landed.

He hadn't expected to have it tossed back, but oh well. He hadn't needed it, it was just curiosity. Setting his 'Conan' phone back on the bedside table, he used the 'Shinichi' one to bring up a few documents online.

"You're looking it up?" Kazuha asked, raising a brow. "I thought you knew, since you brought it up." She said as she relaxed further into her pile. She seemed comfortable, at least. Ran shrugged as an answer, looking at Shinichi to see if he would say. The shrunken detective, however, stayed silent for a few minutes, then set his phone down and stretched.

"Just rechecking my facts, in case I remembered something wrong. Always good to go back to the source instead of relying on your memory all the time. Hearsay can change your perspective too without realizing it." Shinichi yawned a little, rubbing his eyes. Man, he hated this child body.

Kazuha, at least, accepted his answer, and Ran smiled a little. "Hmmm, so even the Great Detective of the East needs to review once in a while." She teased, knowing full well that he did that anyway.

"Shut up." He grumbled, flushing and looking away. Ran giggled in response, and Kazuha laughed as well, although it was far less restrained.

"Thing is, diamonds had always been marketed as valuable, so when the people who founded De Beers found a mine that was just covered in them, they realized it'd be more profitable to maintain the illusion that diamonds were rare and valuable, or prices would sink like, well, a rock." He started, shrugging a little. "They turned to making profit out of romance. Instead of trying to make their brand appealing, they tried to make the idea of a diamond ring appealing and a must have for a romantic courtship. Hence, you have diamond rings, the bigger the diamonds, the more 'powerful' the love. That's how the whole thing started, and it's how they drove sales of their diamonds up, despite having a near monopoly and plenty to go around."

Ran seemed a little crestfallen, now aware that the diamond industry seemed to be a scam at its core. Kazuha, however, seemed pensive.

"So… what WOULD you recommend for an engagement sort of thing?" She asked, curious, as she eyed the apparent six year old boy. She had no teasing intent that time, but both tokyoites suddenly turned bright red at the implication. Ran started to stammer, bright red like a beacon, and Shinichi shuffled awkwardly, not doing that much better himself.

"Kazuha-chan!" Ran scolded with a slight whine, almost falling from the chair. She wasn't sure what else to say, how else to scold, already at a loss for words at her friend's brash question. She turned, about to open her mouth and tell Shinichi to just forget about it, when he actually spoke up

"W-w-well." Shinichi started, not noticing Ran's look as he clasped his hands together and looked down. Now both looked at the shrunken detective, curious for their own reasons as to what he was going to say. "I was thinking, any sort of band would do, like one of gold… Maybe even not a ring. I-I mean, I thought about using something that's been in the family before, but I… I felt it might be better to get something more personal. B-but I haven't r-really thought on it as much, because I wanted to consult, uh…" He trailed off then, almost steaming with how much he was blushing, now well aware the stares directed towards him. "Ran." He finished, a whisper more than anything, and he hoped no one heard him.

According to Kazuha's squeal, she did. He covered his face in embarrassment as the osakan girl reached over to ruffle his hair, pulling him out of the bed and in her arms. It was only due to the earlier agreement that he did not protest much, even if the last thing he wanted to be was paraded around at the moment. Rather, he was hoping the bed suddenly sucked him into the abyss somehow. Ran seemed to be frozen in place, lost in her own little world once she realized what it meant, her jaw hanging a bit loose.

"Now I know why Sonoko says he's your husband." Kazuha said to Ran, snapping her out of it, as Shinichi let out a noise of protest. Ran was still in disbelief, however, mostly that he had planned that far ahead. She closed her mouth and stood shakily from her seat, letting herself drop on the pillow nest, next to Kazuha and her victim.

"Shinichi…" Ran started, now that they were in close proximity again, and gulped down her nerves. The one addressed wasn't doing much better, sweating bullets and blushing as bright as a stoplight, although he now stopped covering his face. Kazuha clamped her mouth shut, deciding to listen in on this before reminding them she was right there.

"When… did you start thinking about that..?" She finally got the nerves to ask, and Shinichi could tell it had cost her a lot to say. Still, he himself felt his own answer clogged in his throat, causing him to gulp.

Both stared at each other, and Shinichi finally relented, dropping his gaze as he fiddled with his fingers, shifting in Kazuha's hold, who stayed quiet still. "… A while." He finally choked out, avoiding to look at Ran. His hands clasped together tightly, and his eyes turned to stare at them while trying to formulate the words. "It m-might have crossed my mind a few times in… middle school."

Anything Ran could or would have said in response vanished from her brain when Kazuha let out a surprised yell, squeezing Shinichi in surprise and looking between the both of them. "That long ago?" She asked, almost aghast. Her attention then went strictly to the smallest in the room. "Shinichi-kun! Ya might be the most romantic of us three." And while Kazuha WAS kidding, a part of her was earnest about it.

Shinichi blinked, then gave a nervous chuckle, shrugging as he turned away. "Really?" He asked, index finger scratching at his cheek. "I can't have been the only one…" Well, that was awkward. Kazuha shrugged. "I didn't really think about it for a while, and it mostly went to dating only…" She said as she trailed off. Well, dating and things involved in dating that weren't precisely pg12. The other two in the room didn't need to know that. Kazuha elbowed Ran, who gave a start at that, blinking at them both before twiddling her thumbs.

"Maybe here and there when I was younger. Marriage, I mean." She said, expression flushing. "Later I focused on… other things. I-I still thought about it! Just not… too deep about proposals or anything…" Ran smiled at the other two, rubbing the back of her head. "Just in general… I guess it's the way to put it."

"… Oh." Shinichi vocalized, then laughed awkwardly. "I guess I'm the only one who thought of a place and all…" Both other occupants in the room snapped their attention back to him at that, and he let out a noise of surprise before raising his arms. "No, no. Need not to know." He said, the last part in english, as he gave them a cheeky grin. "Takes away the surprise?" At least, the more he talked about it, the more comfortable he was with it. At least, to the point of not being a complete babbling mess. His cheeks were still tinted pink, but the atmosphere seemed to come looser and looser as time went on.

"A-anyway. I need to use the restroom. Child bladders don't retain anything too well." Kazuha seemed skeptical of Shinichi's claim, but Ran nodded a little, flushing and laughing slightly. "Toilet, Conan-kun?" She teased, and Shinichi gaped at her, then stuck his tongue out, squirming out of Kazuha's hold to leave the room. Kazuha laughed even after he was gone, and Ran wasn't exactly quiet about her own laughter either.

* * *

Shinichi wasn't sure when he had drifted off. He had come back from the restroom, settled down, and talk had moved onto more mundane topics. School, classwork, gossip from their classes and even his own… but he couldn't remember when exactly he passed out. He slowly woke, stirring, to find that he was on the bed, when he last remembered falling asleep on the pillow nest, and Kazuha and Ran slept on eithe side of him. Hugging him and sleeping awfully close. It took some work to twist his way out of their grasp without waking them, since they probably needed more rest.

"They actually went and did the river formation…" Shinichi muttered in disbelief, then rolled his eyes and slipped out of bed, trying to not think about it. A futile effort, but a valiant one all the same. Maybe if he tried hard enough he wouldn't be a blushing mess when he left the room. It didn't work, but at least by the time he trudged to the kitchen, it wasn't as noticeable.

It was there that he found a rather disgruntled Heiji, who silently followed him with a glowering face and a hunched demeanor. "Kudou…" He started as the six year old began grabbing things out of the fridge as if nothing had happened. "What happened last night?"

Shinichi was, by now, certain curiosity had been eating at him all night and morning.

"Just a lot of pillow talk." Shinichi answered, evasive, as he set the leftovers on the counter and prepared a plate to reheat some things. He figured it'd be better to reveal the fact both girls knew when they were both around to help him do damage control, before Hattori screamed his identity to the high heavens and made his life harder than it already would be. "Some stuff you're better off not knowing." He yawned, rubbing his eyes, and set his plate in the microwave, putting everything else away. Why cook when one had leftovers, anyway? It was too hard to cook while using a stool.

"Don'tcha give me that, Kudou." Heiji warned, his mood likely extremely low. The taller teen poked at his side with a scowl. "What was it they talked about with ya? And what was up with when I opened the door?"

Shinichi sighed, eyeing the microwave tiredly. Couldn't it cook any faster? "You came in at the worst possible time, really." No, not really, it was probably better he burst in then rather than later at night. "Kazuha-chan had dared Ran to lick foam off my cheek if I got some on me again. She took her up to it despite my protests. You walked in." Heiji blinked, but seemed to find no lies in the statement, considering what he remembered of the scene, so he let it go. Still.

"And?" He asked, clasping his hands together and nudging him. "Anything?"

On him? A whole lot. Shinichi rolled his eyes. "You already know she likes you." He said with a sigh. "I didn't even have that when I was your height." The second, of course, was grumbled with a much lower vocal tone, laced with bitterness, and Heiji had the grace and understanding to step back at that, both verbally and physically.

The microwave beeped, he took out his dish and eyed it curiously. Did noodles even go in curry…? What exactly did they cook last night? With a shrug, he walked to the table, set down his plate and fetched himself a glass of water to go with it. Heiji watched silently until he was settled, then sat across from him. Shinichi was pretty sure he already had his meal, probably since he woke up and sulked until someone else did. Uncle was probably deep in sleep mode.

"I was asked about some things about you, though." He continued, giving the meal a taste. Not bad, actually. "Things you said or did while I was around." Heiji seemed to be very, very invested in this, though, leaning forward a little more and more. "Like what, Kudou? What did you answer?"

He really, really, didn't want to tackle this on his own, but then the calvary arrived. Sort of.

"Good morning, Hattori-kun. Conan-kun." Ran greeted as she walked out of the room, yawning and rubbing her eyes while fixing her clothes. She had changed already, he had to admire her ability to ass herself to do anything in the morning if she didn't have to due to duties. Kazuha trailed after her, bag slung over her shoulder and wearing her clothes messily. "Mornin'." She greeted, plopping down on a seat between Shinichi and Heiji.

"We're leavin' soon, Heiji. Are ya ready?" She asked, rubbing her eyes, then reached over to ruffle the six year old's hair. "Gonna miss ya, kiddo." Shinichi gruffed in response, sticking his tongue out, and continued to eat.

"Already? What?" He asked, grouching, and snuck a side glance to Shinichi. 'This isn't over yet', it seemed to say, and Shinichi was fairly sure of it. After all… they had yet to drop the bomb on him. The small boy gave a cheeky smile in response.

"We have school and responsibilities, Heiji! We can't just ignore 'em!" Kazuha insisted with a huff, then smiled as Ran brought breakfast for both of them. It was the same Shinichi had reheated for himself, and he grinned a little at that. Having polished off his own plate, he trotted off to wash it. "Now go get your stuff." He heard Kazuha say, watching as Heiji slunk off into Kogoro's room to fetch his things. He chuckled softly to himself, padding back over to the girls and seating himself next to Ran. She smiled, brushing his hair with her hands a little.

"Why do ya three look like yer about to play a prank on someone?" Heiji asked as he returned to where they were, raising an eyebrow at all three, who looked back at him with the most innocent look they could muster. Well, himself and Ran. Kazuha didn't really bother with not looking like she had something up her sleeve.

"Nothin', nothin', lets go." Kazuha said as she stood. "Sorry to eat and go, Ran-chan. It's saturday and all." Ran shook her head, smiling at them. "It's okay, we overslept." With that said, Kazuha at least took her plate to the kitchen, as did Ran, and they were washed fairly quickly. Soon enough, Kazuha and Heiji were heading out the door, himself and Ran standing waving them off.

"See ya later, Ran-chan, Shinichi-kun." Kazuha said, casually, and was unable to stop her big, big grin as Heiji suddenly sputtered and blanched, about to demand an explanation. Before he could, however, he was being dragged down the stairs and to the streets, Shinichi and Ran waving at them both as if nothing had happened before heading back inside.

Definitely worth keeping that tidbit in until the end.

* * *

Shinichi reread the text he had gotten from Hattori a few minutes prior, chuckling to himself before putting his phone away, looking out the window.  
'Ya have a lot to explain, Kudou.' It said.

"To a lot more people than you think, Hattori…" Shinichi muttered to himself, a slight grin on his face.

* * *

A/N: The original of this has an extra scene, but since it was mostly for fun, unneeded, and probably slightly nsfw (the topic of the talk), it was removed for the publically published version. The circumstances of the reveal were left vague on purpose, hints sprinkled through the drabble, but the basics are: Conan had left his Shinichi phone behind at the Agency, and the girls found it when Kazuha convinced Ran to send Shinichi a cute text, only to hear a phone vibrate. As Conan was away, he did not notice, and they managed to unlock it after several tries. When confronted, it left Conan two choices: out himself, or lie about the entire phonenumber and make Ran believe she had been chatting and texting a fake Shinichi this entire time, which would have a lot of nasty reprecussions he'd rather not face.

I hope this was at least enjoyable, I haven't written a work this long in a while and posted it.


	2. Truth

_**Truth**_

It'd be a few weeks before Conan called Kazuha and Heiji back from Osaka with a set time and place. Said weeks were riddled with awkward tiptoeing around the subject for Ran and Conan, slight tension between Kazuha and Heiji. Sure, they still got along just fine: they even had a small LINE chat made after the occasion, in which they joked around plenty but, for caution, used Shinichi's current fake name.  
Yet, there was still that tension in the air. Things left unsaid, feelings leftover of being left out. And with the truth still wrapped in tight sheets, even with acceptance of the need from those who were not in the know, it made room for a slight amount of resentment and curiosity. As time had gone on, Conan's guilt grew and grew, and with it his silence.

And so, on Conan's request, Ran went to retrieve their mutual friends at the station when the day came, while he prepared in his old home. He had waited until Subaru had 'left on a short trip' for this, and was currently scouting the library for listening devices, then the rest of the house. Ran would let him know when they were ten minutes away, enough time to prepare tea. With this in mind, he kept sweeping his home, something he never thought he'd have to do prior to… this whole incident, really. Thankfully, Akai was really about as paranoid as he was, so the house was thankfully clean. A part of him felt guilty, casting doubt on Akai like that, thinking the man would set his own listening devices when he knew Conan would use the house for the day while he was out.

And yet, one could never be too careful. As such, he boxed away his guilt and shoved it aside. There'd be time to deal with that, for now he had to deal with the far bigger boxes of emotions. Compartmentalizing was a skill common in his career choice, more so with his situation, but there always came a time when it became too much...

"This really is happening…" He muttered to himself as his hands shook. An empty, nervous laugh left his throat. "But why am I so nervous this time?"

Maybe it was because he was also hiding things from the western detective now. Secrets that were not his own (Amuro), data he had almost nothing on (Rum). He did not want Hattori to be as paranoid as he was… jumping to conclusions when he had nothing on him but vague, changing descriptions of this dangerous character.

But it was fitting, now, to perhaps also reveal such a thing. They deserved it. All three of them did, as much disclosure as he could muster without causing noise on other lines. No Akai, Ran would feel compelled to want to tell Sera. He'd have to word himself carefully on Amuro, no need to set hostilities or hints, not to mention he wasn't even sure if the man was safe to speak to loosely. Caution, of course, had become his very way of existing, and it was exhausting.

His phone vibrated, the one for 'himself', and he froze. "..." A quick check confirmed Ran had texted him: they were on their way. Shaking his head from his musings, Conan idly noted he had stood and introspected in his old room, pushed the torrent of negative thoughts away as they began to spill from this fact, and rushed downstairs.

* * *

The tea was ready and all, but now Conan was faced with a dilemma. The tray was too heavy to carry, but he wanted to do this by himself. It had been a while since he hosted in his real home, much less as the owner (hell, he almost never did, since Ran could walk in and out whenever she pleased...), but he also did not fancy breaking his mother's fine china.

" _Of all the things to be worried about…"_ He thought, amused that such a simple task could mean so much to someone. The amusement, of course, was self-deprecating to a point. He knew exactly why something normally considered a chore(albeit an important one) was important to him: as important as it had been to set slippers for his expected guests, or clean up the library a little, and even prepare the tea. His eyes slid to the ornate teapot, heaviest on the tray, then to the set that came with it, before going back to his hands.

"What the hell were you thinking, Kudou…" He muttered to himself, voice shuddering with his breath. "Of course children can't host, you can't even carry a tray-" His breath left him as the doorbell rang. A courtesy, really, since Ran had the keys and could come inside. He jumped, almost knocking over the tea set in the process, before stumbling off the small stepladder he had been using and to the door. He scampered up another he had set up, propped near the intercom system, to press the button himself. "Yes?" he asked, trying to not sound as breathless and nervous as he felt.

"We're here, Conan-kun." Ran's voice spoke up from the other end. He took a breath, trying to not let that last part get to him. No name slips until indoors. Right. "Come in." He said, finger slowly slipping off the button as he allowed himself a moment of breath.

"Calm down."

Even his fake name was making him nervous. This didn't bode well.

Opening the door for his guests, his gaze was immediately drawn up to their expressions, up and up… he hated being this short. "Yo!" Hattori greeted with a raised hand in a sort of salute, possibly trying to avoid saying anything further until he was indoors. Kazuha-chan gave an awkward wave, and he could notice it was a little strained. Ran simply smiled, then motioned for him to move back. Right. "Uh, come in…" Stepping aside and back, he got off the genkan to let them change their footwear. Eyeing the small storage area for the shoes, an idea came to mind about the-

"Tea?" Hattori asked as he sniffed the air and grinned. "Didn't think ya could, Kudou." Shinichi's nose scrunched at that, pretenses dropped the moment the door was closed. He was allowed to be himself now. "Not all of us mess up boiling water, Hattori." He gruffed in response. The other teen laughed at that, and Ran started to head for the kitchen. "I'll go get it-" She offered, and he knew he could have let her go then, save himself from potentially breaking stuff, but his emotions kicked logic aside as he suddenly blurted "Wait!" Ran froze, eyes wide in shock, and Kazuha-chan seemed confused, about to follow her there.

"... Wait." He repeated, dusting off the near desperation of the earlier iteration. Ran's shoulders relaxed a little at that, and it made him a little nervous to realize that she had picked up something was wrong. "Just lead them to the library. I'll… get the tea."

Hattori seemed to be biting back a quip, instead shaking his head and keeping whatever it was to himself. Ran, still a little confused, nodded and motioned for them to follow. As they headed there, Shinichi let his shoulders relax as his muscles uncoiled. _"Calm down."_

Walking to the kitchen, he set his plan in motion, remembering the serving cart his mother got once from a foreign actress friend. Momentarily, he felt a bitter thankfulness that it had not been from _Sharon_. Since it was taller, he could more easily move the items individually from the counter to the top of the cart, and then it was just a matter of wheeling it to the library.

A part of him wondered why he didn't think of it before. Another part of him just wanted to not think about it until this was all over with.

* * *

There were many windows in the Kudou household, some on the hall, or in the rooms… and some faced Agasa's home. Of course, the curtains were drawn to remove visibility inside, but for further precautions, Shinichi had called in a favor. He had asked Ayumi to take Haibara out today, claiming she seemed a little down in spirits (well, she had, a little, but for mundane reasons thankfully), and handing her some money for both to spend. While Shinichi had planned to eventually tell Haibara that a couple of more people were aware, he wanted to do it only after the fact, lest she try to force him to take it all back, or not say a word.

Really, he knew she'd be mad. Positively furious. But, if he wanted to keep all his promises and ensure those who knew his identity at least knew what it Meant, he had to keep his fellow shrunken teen out of it until it was over.

Besides, it helped to have someone on your side if you made Haibara Ai angry. Or at least, present so you wouldn't get murdered.

Shaking those thoughts from his head, he pushed the library door open, then wheeled in the serving cart, closing the door behind him. It was a soundproof room - discussion would be safe in here, which is why he had picked this place to… reveal things.

The chat that had been happening in his absence ended abruptly, and Hattori was quick to point out the fancy cart. "Didn't know ya had one of those!" He commented, grinning widely as he crossed his arms and leaned back on the sofa. Kazuha-chan herself had her brows raised in surprise for a few moments. Then, she laughed, clasping her hands together.

"Kinda reminds ya of the optical illusions case, right?" She asked, then slowed to a stop as she looked at Hattori, then back at the tea set, and finally to her lap in embarrassment. Shinichi didn't really know what that was about for a few moments, until he remembered their gossiping a few weeks before. Oh, right. She had tried to confess then and failed. Ran seemed to understand faster than he (well, she was there and knew at the time), and was trying not to giggle at Kazuha-chan's expense, hand politely on her mouth.

"It kind of does, doesn't it?" She said, then smiled. "Although I don't want to associate that case with eating." The victims in the house had both been poisoned.

"Well, the cups are empty." Shinichi said, trying and failing to sound helpful. Of course, now that the tray was here, he realized he'd be unable to reach and set, so he sighed, glancing at Ran. Might as well ask for help in the right places. She wordlessly stood and helped set the tea set onto the table, then hesitated serving. Turning to glance at him wordlessly, he looked at the kettle, then back to Ran, before shaking his head.

"It's… It's too heavy for me to handle safely, anyway." He said with a choked out laugh, seating himself and clamping his hands together, pretending the look everyone gave him wasn't there. He couldn't stand being looked at with pity. He stared at his hands as Ran served the tea in silence, then took a deep breath.

Why did he even bother? He felt his childhood friend sit next to him, heard the shuffling of clothing as Hattori and Kazuha-chan reached for their cup. An air of awkwardness hung around them, only broken as Kazuha-chan managed to speak up again, trying to break the uncomfortable silence in the room. "It's a very nice tea set." She complimented, taking a sip. "And the tea is good. I had my doubts, Shinichi-kun…" He snorted a little at that, a wry smile forming on his face as he finally looked up. Tension alleviated a little.

"Don't tell my mother when she's here, there'll be no living with her for a month." He said, reaching for his own cup after Ran started to snicker a little herself. Hattori didn't even bother hiding his boisterous laugh, slapping his knee.

"Yer mom is a piece o' work, Kudou." He said, grinning widely. "Bet yer dad is worse." Ran burst out laughing at that.

"Yeah, they're both a little out there…" he said, rolling his eyes. "But what do you expect from an author and an actress?" They sipped their tea in a more amiable ambience, catching up with each other about things that just couldn't be said as well over a communication app (especially when all tried to avoid giving hints to the elephant in the room). More details on so and so, how the training was going for the three martial artists, loose description of cases… once they had finished the tea, a few hours later, the group was far more relaxed and, as a comfortable silence fell upon them, Shinichi leaned back.

It was time. He couldn't be sure when Haibara would be back anyway, so if she saw them on their way out she'd have questions.

"I might as well start from the beginning…" He said, clasping his hands together and rubbing them. Attention shifted to him, but he was not surprised nor bothered. He'd treat this as he treated any deduction show. Explain, answer questions, keep explaining.

No need for this to get intricately personal.

"My involvement in this case began in Tropical Land, after I followed one of the men clothed in black I had seen before. One of two we saw during the roller coaster case, the shorter one." He nodded to Ran, since she had seen them as well. He noticed her hands were balled into fists. "I saw him skulking about, and smelled trouble." He chuckled softly. "If only I had known…"

He paused, formulating how to say the next part without being too personal, and took the plunge.

"A man was being blackmailed with evidence of himself and his company being involved in gun contraband. Money was exchanged for said evidence, and while I tried to stay hidden and take pictures, the partner of the man in black snuck up behind me and hit me with a pipe on the back of the head." He tried not to flinch and rub the spot, as if it was still sore to this day. Sometimes, he could feel it faintly, what happened that night… "They argued among themselves on how to get rid of me, decided to test a prototype drug on me that supposedly left no trace, and left me to die. I'd have been shot, if the case hadn't happened that day." Ran seemed white as a sheet, hands gripping her pants tight, while Kazuha-chan fiddled with her hands, staring. Hattori seemed a little attentive, he had never told the other detective what happened in much detail…

But really, the day you almost died was kind of a personal ordeal.

"That was my first encounter with Them. All I learned then was that they worked in an organization, and said organization was developing a toxin and dealt with blackmail. When I came to after I was forced to take the drug and fainted, I was... this." He motioned to himself, shaking his head.

"Professor Agasa was the first person I ran into who wasn't a police officer. It was him who told me I couldn't tell anyone what happened, or who I was. It was him who pushed the idea that I live with Ran and her father. Really, he had the best intentions… neither of us knew what exactly I had gotten into yet." He sighed, shoulders slumping. "I wish I had told you that night... before your father interrupted." The last he directed to Ran, rubbing his temples and leaning back. "Since then, it's been a frustrating chase of tiny leads on anything I can find about Them."

"What I've learned so far from them is the following: they operate on a need to know basis. As such, lower ranked members know less than higher rank members, and even those don't know very much. Their higher ranked members have codenames, and tend to wear black when working." He paused. "The two that poisoned me were Gin and Vodka. Tequila, Pisco and Calvados have all passed away, Tequila on a Mantendo conference, Pisco was killed," He paused, flinching a little in guilt. It had technically been his and Haibara's fault he died. "and Calvados was the sniper at Haido Port with Vermouth, and he shot himself before the FBI could question him." He paused, and Ran seemed to realize something. "Vermouth, of course. A master of disguise." Her eyes widened, and it made him wonder what she was thinking about. He gulped. "Chianti and Korn are both snipers, they seem to work together a lot. Kir is actually on our side, a CIA infiltrate who has gotten far enough to earn a codename. Bourbon… is another spy, but I can't really trust him yet. It feels… off." He paused, clasping his hands together. "I don't know much about Scotch, just that he died, and it's why Bourbon hates the FBI so much. The FBI agent involved in that and I haven't… talked more about it, so I don't know more." Or much at all. He should talk to Akai, Shinichi knew, but he felt plenty of hesitation to approach full disclosure with him. Ran seemed to recall something then. Ugh, he had no idea what she was thinking, and it was making him antsy.

"R-Recently, Kir warned us about Rum. All I know about them is that they are the right hand of the Boss, and that there's many descriptions." He gave Hattori an apologetic look, and he understood right away.  
And then seemed very offended. He bowed his head.

"Sorry, Hattori, I hesitated to tell you because, well… I have absolutely no idea what to look for." He seemed to be at a loss. "The only hint is 'fake eye'... but that's it. Supposedly, some people said he was an old man, or an effeminate man, or a strong man… it's what Haibara told me."

And then, he froze.

They all did.

"... Well." He said, then let out a nervous laugh. "That'd be another member, an ex-member rather. She used to be Sherry, and was in charge of the development of the drug that shrank us both instead of killed us." He sighed, rubbing the nape of his neck. "Then they killed her sister and wouldn't tell her why, so she refused to continue work, and they responded to that by sending her to an execution chamber. She took one of her own pills in hopes of dying faster than they planned, but shrank instead, and was able to escape. She's also the one who confirmed me dead on the logs…" He trailed off then, then shook his head.

"S-so that other kid is…" Kazuha-chan said and trailed off, raising a brow at Hattori. "Is that why you call her small big sister?" She asked, seemingly unsure of what to make of the nickname. Hattori laughed, shrugging and sticking his tongue out. He seemed a bit tense still at the fact he had not been told about Rum.

He'd have to apologize properly about it later.

"Ahem." Shinichi coughed into his hand, bringing attention back to him. "Whatever these people are doing, they are recruiting scientists and programmers for it. A log from one of their victims they blackmailed into creating something revealed he was threatened to finish his work with his life on the line, but all he said about said program was that he wished he had never done it." He left that hanging in the air. "They planned to assassinate Yasuteru Domon. They blackmail companies for information or force others to divulge information before getting rid of them like they tried on the train with the suitcase bomb." He knew Ran recognized that one, her hands clasped over her mouth. "Combined with the drug Haibara had been forced to make and the… other one she mentioned but never elaborated on, these people have plans. This is… something far bigger than I ever expected when this mess started. This is the… case that has kept me 'away' for so long."

"So… I guess if any of you have any questions, we can continue from that." Shinichi finalized, shoulders sagging as he clasped his hands together. While he expected either girl to have a lot of them, he didn't really expect Kazuha-chan to raise her hand while looking a little eager to be 'picked'. He almost laughed, but it was right after that Ran scooped him up from the side and gave him a bone-crushing hug. He let out a gurgled squawk, frozen in place even as his limbs hung awkwardly and his body was pressed against her own while held bridal-style. Looking to Hattori for help, he found none (he even seemed amused and perhaps a little vindictive), and instead gave Kazuha-chan a helpless look while trying to motion to her. Ran didn't seem keen on letting go anytime soon, so he instead tried to shift to a more comfortable position without moving much. He could tell Ran was struggling with the urge to cry, so he let her do what she needed to calm down.

One of his hands rested atop of her own somewhat, for a little support.

"So, how many people DO know about, well, this and yourself?" Kazuha-chan asked, eyes wide in curiosity, and he was sure she was probably bitter about her and Ran being left out too. Might as well…

"The only person I told willingly was the professor…" Shinichi admitted as he laughed nervously. "Hattori blackmailed the information out of me…" The guy grinned at that, seemingly proud of himself. That asshat. "Agasa told my parents." That, of course, came out extremely bitter, causing both Ran and Kazuha-chan to look at him curiously. Even Hattori raised a brow at that, but Shinichi shook his head. He wasn't explaining that one. "Haibara is in the same boat as me, so she knows." And then, he sighed. "There's Hondou Eisuke… I ended up blurting it out to him when he said… things." He flushed, refusing to elaborate. "It was stupid of me, but he's sort of involved in this case too."

"Two other people seem to be certain, but we haven't… spoken about it yet. One of them is an FBI agent, the other is um, well… Sera-san." Ran blinked, looking at him curiously even as her eyes seemed a bit misty. "I guess she recognized me on TV when we went to London… I said I was Holmes' Apprentice, and recently remembered she heard me say that before when we were little at the beach." He said as he trailed off, then shook his head.

"Oh…" Ran said as she seemed to remember herself. "... Sera-chan and… her family." She said, pensive. "It's kind of becoming a little more clear now."

"I'll remind you about it later." Shinichi said, a little nervousness to his voice. She responded with a shaky voice of her own. "You better detail that about Eisuke-kun, too…" She said, eyes narrowing a little. She slowly set him on her lap then. Better grounds to speak, he supposed.

"I don't know how much Sera-san knows about the case itself, but all of the FBI agents I have met are 'involved'. Including Jodie-sensei. They don't know about me… for the most part." He added, crossing his arms and resisting the urge to lean back. He wasn't sure he wanted to face the awkwardness of pressing himself against the teen behind him, considering… "The only one who seems to have an idea as to my identity is… living here in disguise." He finally admitted. He couldn't say Akai's real identity, but he might as well let them know about this.

"S-subaru-san is an undercover FBI agent?" Ran squeaked, eyes widening as she remembered something. Oh, right… he had been told about how Ran had kicked the guy when they first met. He snickered at that. "Yeah… I asked him to come here after his previous place burned down in a case to, ah, look after the Professor and Haibara."

Shinichi chuckled, giving a wry smile. "I can't really tell his real identity yet, and he and Haibara do have history it seems. I suppose eventually he'll have to resolve that with her…" And if they were actually relatives… have a long, long talk.

"But… if he knows about you, why did you ask me to not say anything about you to him?" Ran asked quietly. Shinichi blinked, then rubbed the back of his head somewhat awkwardly while leaning forward. He didn't really want to elbow her on accident.

"He didn't really know then. I think he overheard me at one point, because I have no idea how he knows, but I know it wasn't until recently." Because, well, otherwise Akai would have been more pressuring with his knowledge before, right? Ran nodded at that, letting out a soft 'ah' noise. Hattori snorted. "Ya didn't tell me about that either, Kudou." He said, indignant, as he leaned forward, elbows resting on his legs as his hands served to rest his head. "How much have ya been hiding?"

Shinichi rubbed his temples with a soft sigh, then prepared to explain, only to hear the noise of a slap. He quickly looked up to see Kazuha-chan had slapped the guy on the shoulder. "Yer so tactless, Heiji." She scolded. "At least he's tellin' ya now."

"Oi, Kazuha." Hattori gruffed in rebuttal. Here came another argument. Taking a breath, he started to speak, when a hand started to run through his hair. Shinichi tensed, then relaxed, realizing it was Ran.

"Not right now, Hattori-kun-" Ran started. "Ahou!" Kazuha-chan barked, crossing her arms. "Kazuha-chan." Both teens from Osaka paused what was about to become the regular banter, looking at the Tokyoites blankly.

"Er. Yeah." Kazuha-chan said as she crossed her arms and slid away from Hattori, who seemed to take offense at this gesture. Still, he huffed, puffed, and pouted while turning away instead of trying to instigate another argument.

Well, at least they were both mature enough to know when to stop. Sometimes.

"Listen." Shinichi finally said as he clasped his hands together and leaned forward, using said hand for support on his chin as his elbows rested on his legs. "No one else can know about me, not unless they have to know. We can't use my real identity liberally, and we have to be careful, okay?" He said, expression serious until Ran reached down and ruffled his hair.

"Shinichi…" She started, looking down at him. "I want to know, what your reasoning was for hiding this from dad and me." She said, eyebrows drawn up a little. "I know you probably didn't want us involved in such a big problem but… wouldn't it make it harder for us to know you were in trouble? What if we told someone you were alive casually and they were an Organization member?"

That was… a very good point. In fact, one that could have bitten him in the ass if Vermouth wasn't so weirdly willing to spare him. He looked up at her, expression blank, and then seemed to realize something.

"You're… right." His brain kicked into high gear. Why did he overlook something so important?! "I should have at least told you I was in trouble. You and your dad and maybe Sonoko. I mean, said not to say I was involved, but it's not enough if I don't warn people who know me to not tell strangers I'm still alive…"

He had never really… considered it before, and suddenly it left him feeling very stupid.

"I guess, with all that everyone told me that no one must know anything, that very thought didn't cross my mind, because my only thought was… that I didn't want any of you involved." His shoulders dropped, and he looked down a little.

"I don't think I have a good reason…" Shinichi trailed off, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "All that repeated through my mind was the feedback loop of what Haibara told me the night I… thought I should tell you. In the hospital. That no one can know, it puts everyone in danger. I wanted so much to keep all of you safe from harm… that I kept thinking of knowing and not knowing as two different things, instead of even… considering that middle ground. I didn't want you to worry about me, sure, but… I also didn't think it'd be for the best if people who knew me knew not to talk about me like I was still around."

"Sorry. I… I should have realized sooner." He said as he hung his head, only to find the hand on his head had left, and had been replaced by both on his shoulders.

"You told me once…" Ran started. "That detectives aren't Gods that know everything." Ran smiled, even if he was no longer looking up at her. She gave his shoulders a squeeze, and Kazuha-chan nodded from her location.

"That's right, Shinichi-kun." She said, crossing her arms. "At least ya admitted it, unlike this ahou here-" "Hey!" "who would have probably made up some excuse."

"What was that, Kazuha?!"

"You heard me, you black octopus!"

Shinichi opened his eyes and looked in their direction to witness the wrestling match that was suddenly taking place on the other sofa. "O-oi…" Ran stared as well, then shook her head repeatedly and gently pushed him off her lap and onto the floor. He slid down easily, looking up at her once he was standing. "But you see, Shinichi?" She asked over the rabble that was Kazuha-chan and Hattori fighting for lordship of the couch. "It's fine now that you told us. We just… have to tell everyone else about you being in trouble." She said, smiling gently. He stared at her with wide eyes, unable to believe he was just… getting off so easily for such a massive oversight. "Might as well fix it now, but… you owe me and Kazuha-chan some ice cream after this, okay?"

"Ice cream, you say…" Shinichi gruffed with an amused tone as he smiled back somewhat. "I'll take you up on that-... when they stop fighting." He sighed, looking back at the two rabble rousers, only to find Kazuha-chan and Hattori in a grappling hold.

"Just admit it, Heiji!"

"I can't just admit to something if I'm not in the situation! Ahou!"

Ran moved forward to try to separate them, but Shinichi chose to wisely stay in the sidelines. He doubted he had the strength to pull them apart.

* * *

The dispute had ended naturally after Kazuha-chan and Hattori agreed at a stalemate; that one could not tell what they would do if one was not in such a difficult situation themselves. Kazuha-chan argued, she thought Hattori wouldn't have admitted it, but also admitted that either way was possible (albeit begrudgingly). This seemed to satisfy both parties, even if Hattori was a little miffed that Kazuha-chan seemed to think 'so little of him'.

Another argument was avoided once Shinichi finally piped up the idea of getting some ice cream or something to lift the mood, his treat. It seemed not even Ran could stop them from arguing, but at least she had succeeded in pulling them apart that time.

Once the tea set was washed, they were on their way, thankfully not running into Haibara on their way out and to the busier streets of Beika.

"Betcha the food here doesn't beat the food in Osaka." Hattori claimed proudly, and Ran laughed softly at that. Kazuha-chan nodded her head a little. "Osaka is the food capital, after all." She added, and both westerners shared a fistbump. Conan grinned at that, now back into his role, and stuffed his hands in his pockets as he walked next to much taller teens. The atmosphere had already relaxed. "We'll just have to see." His voice had a more childlike quality to it, something that, while still in the Kudou household, all three had admitted sometimes got a little weird and disorienting after hearing him talk seriously. Conan supposed it was a fair judgement.

"Well, the food we tried when we went was very good, right, Conan-kun?" Ran added, looking down at her charge, then back at Hattori and Kazuha-chan, who seemed pleased by her words. He shrugged and nodded. "That's true, it was very tasty."

He felt relaxed, a little more at ease and he hoped, very dearly, that they felt that way too. Sometime soon, he would have to deal with informing Haibara, and what would come from that, but he supposed… one thing at a time. At the very least, so far, things seemed to be going well.

He was glad.

* * *

 **I didn't really intend to make another chapter or anything, but decided it'd be interesting to write out how The Truth Come Out, especially since it'd be partial truths and not wholly explored experiences. Might write about him eventually expressing how he feels more about the entire ordeal other than little instances and slips, maybe, or at least draw them out in a comic.**

 **But that's another story for another time, as well as trying to survive the wrath that is Haibara Ai.**

 **Since it's from Shinichi's POV, the characters are referred to as he refers to them.**


	3. Food for Thought

The vote for ice cream was a resounding agreement. However, before then, it was probably best to get food, then get the ice cream on their way to the station to drop Hattori and Kazuha-chan off. As much as Shinichi felt it was all too soon for them to leave, they did have some exams coming up, and Hattori's mom tended to care very, very much about her son spending some time preparing. He supposed he should have seen it coming, considering the time when Hattori couldn't go, for the same reasons, to the Sunset Mansion.

Still, he'd very much appreciate it if Hattori and Kazuha-chan weren't sniggering and whispering to each other while looking at him. Head hanging low and ears as red as tomatoes from embarrassment, he nevertheless trudged on, grumbling under his breath as Ran lead him by the hand. Assholes.

"Ah, Conan-kun… are you alright? Should I carry you instead?" The fact that Ran managed to both sound concerned and vindictive at the same time was something he would marvel at, if he didn't feel even more embarrassed, entire face now flushed. The resounding, hooting laughter of the other two weren't helping any.

"Mfine." He gruffed as a response, hand squirming in her grip slightly. It was starting to become a little unfun. Ran, it seemed, understood it was getting a little out of hand, letting go. He didn't have the will to look up at them to see their responses, instead stuffing both hands in his pockets and watching his feet as they walked, letting his embarrassment run its course. It really wasn't bad to be taken around by the hand at this point, really, it was mostly that he was being poked fun of at for it, considering his actual age.

He'd probably laugh about it too. With a shrug, his gaze redirected forward again as the emotions passed, raising a brow as Kazuha-chan reached down to ruffle his hair after moving forward a little faster to catch up to him and Ran.

"Yer so cute, Ku-Conan-kun!" She said, grinning widely, and he laughed sarcastically in turn, rolling his eyes. Oh boy, another one.

"I'll never know why I let all those slipups go past." Ran said with a sigh.

It took Kazuha-chan a few moments, and then, "Ran-chan! 'm not like that oaf!" Kazuha-chan responded in complaint as realization dawned on her, Hattori striding up to catch up to the rest then.

"Whatcha say 'bout me, Kazuha?!" His voice was about as annoyed as it normally was when the arguments started. Conan wisely moved from walking beside Ran and Kazuha-chan to walking on the other side of Ran, away from the impending explosion.

"Ya heard me, ya BIG OAF!" Kazuha-chan jabbed both verbally and physically, landing a soft elbow hit against Hattori's torso. At least, it looked soft, compared to the force Conan was sure she could use.

"I haven't even messed up that much!" Hattori complained, then turned to Conan. "Right?!"

"I can count five I remember…" Conan said in response, not helping, as his hands moved from his pockets to support the back of his head, feigning nonchalance. "You tell me if that's good or bad."

Before anything could be continued, Ran decided it'd be wise to point out that they were moments away from their destination, raising her voice a little as she moved between Hattori and Kazuha-chan. "We're here." She said, hands grasping their shoulders and then speeding up a little to lead the pack. Conan scurried behind her in silence. Regardless of how fired up and ready for a small bout both Osakans were, they paused their argument, for now.

Conan supposed he should give them both credit, for knowing when to stop. At least, when it was pointed out to them that they should. Sometimes.  
Maybe not that much credit, then.

It was a Ramen-ya, in fact, one him and Ran were fairly familiar with by now. The slogan outside took Hattori and Kazuha-chan by surprise for a few moments, making them take a little longer to go inside. With a hearty greeting from the owner, they all took their seats at the stools.

"I hope you don't bring a case with you, Conan-kun!" Ogura-san said after, a hearty laugh accompanying his jest. Conan merely responded by smiling at the portly man with wide, innocent eyes. "I won't~! At least, I'll try!" Ran gave a nervous laugh then, shaking her head.

Kicking his feet in mild entertainment, he didn't expect to get a text then to his Conan phone. With a curious blink, he took it out of his pocket, raising a brow. 'It's so creepy when you do that'. Very classy, Hattori. He merely looked at his fellow detective, sticking his tongue out.

The waitress then came to them, having freed herself from other customers at the moment. "Conan-kun, Ran-chan! You brought friends?"

"Yep!" Conan responded, smiling at Sayo-san. "We wanted to show them the best ramen in Tokyo!"  
Ran smiled, politely, then nodded, adding her own input. "Well, it's the best I've had, too."

"You kids flatter me." Ogura-san grinned widely. "So what will it be?"

"I'll take yer recommendation, Neechan." Hattori said, jabbing Ran's side playfully, and Kazuha nodded as well.

"Ah, well…" Ran seemed a little flustered at the attention, but otherwise nodded to herself. "Then, four orders of Great King Yama Ramen, please!" Conan nodded, agreeing with her choice.

"Coming right up!" Ogura-san got back to work then, and Sayo-san soon followed, leaving the four to talk among themselves. Most customers were seated at the tables, but a few were on the stools as well. As such, and the fact that the staff moved back and forth often, the chatter that followed from them went to the mundane. It didn't mean they couldn't have fun, though.

"We're lucky, this place is usually full." Conan said as he stretched a little, eyeing the other folks as he did so. While there were actually plenty of patrons inside, all the tables taken and most of the stools occupied, there at least wasn't a line outside to get into the restaurant at the moment.

"Well, it ain't that close ta lunch rush hour. In fact, it's after." Hattori reasoned, shrugging to himself as he enjoyed the aroma of the place. "Looks full ta me, tho'." And then, he paused, brows furrowed in thought as he lifted a hand to his chin. "But I gotta wonder… is this ramen as good as it is in Osaka?"

"A good question." Kazuha said, nodding sagely. The owner took it with a laugh, puffing his chest proudly. "I'll make sure it's the best ramen you've ever tasted." The man got to work, and Conan turned to look at Ran then, noting the odd seating arrangement. In a sense, he was used to seating on the side rather than right in between everyone else, but it had been different circumstances then. Ran and Hattori now took the outer part of their small file on the stools, with him and Kazuha in the middle.

Surrounded by both of the ladies again. Figures.

"This reminds me of a good okonomiyaki joint I know that we should go ta when ya come visit." Hattori mentioned, a grin on his face. "Ain't nothin like it. The way is a lil complicated, tho… we have to try and make sure we don't lose the kiddo."

"I won't get lost!" Conan said, a bit of indignation in his voice. "I'm good at finding stuff, too."

"Yes, well, yer so small… we might lose ya in the crowd." Kazuha-chan continued, ruffling his hair. Ran laughed politely, but the hand that reached for his shoulder and squeezed felt a little more protective than it should be. Conan laughed a little at that, fixing his hair and grinning up at the two who were teasing. He could play this game too.

"It's okay, I can hold Ran-neechan's hand if it's too crowded." Conan's tone was rather chipper, for someone who had been embarrassed over it moments before.

"How cute!" Kazuha-chan said while trying not to laugh too hard. Hattori himself wasn't doing very well on that front. Conan tried not to look behind him to see what Ran was doing. The tremble of the hand on his shoulder wasn't telling him if it was safe to look or not, but he was fairly sure she was blushing. She wasn't the target of this blow, however. Far from it.

"I guess so! Maybe if Kazuha-neechan held Heiji-niichan's hand more often, he won't run off suddenly. Although you might need a leash…" Hattori sputtered. Kazuha-chan was turning into various shades of red. A job well-done. Conan mentally patted himself on the back.

"A leash, huh?" His inner victory was sadly short-lived, and Conan turned in horror to look up at Ran, who seemed to be seriously considering the prospect while looking right at him. Her grin could be described as feral, almost.

"A-ah… Ran-neechan…" He stuttered, then tried to give her a winning smile. "I've been so good lately…" The two Osakans seemed to have recovered from the earlier blow, and Kazuha-chan immediately started looking at her phone.

"Ran-chan! There's some child leashes that look so cute!" She was not helping at all. Ran leaned over him to see, and Conan sighed as he hid his face with his hands. What had he done? Hattori snickered, and Conan was fairly sure the guy was looking at him.

"They really are… I wonder if they make them adult sized, since I think Hattori-kun does need one." Oh. He hadn't expected Ran to just bring it right back.

How the tables turned, although Ran emerged the winner here. Conan started to laugh, peering at Kazuha-chan and Hattori as the former reddened and the latter paled. He tried to ignore the fact that Ran was somewhat over him to enjoy the reaction. Soon enough, she pulled back to her seat, and he sat up straight after, tilting his head at their faces. "Why is Kazuha-neechan so red?" He asked, definitely not as innocent as he sounded.

Kazuha-chan sputtered and shook her head, while Hattori seemed confused as to where to look and who to glower to. Ran laughed a little, then ruffled his hair a little too hard. "You'll get it when you're older." She said, her voice a little singsong, and waved it off. Bah, spoilsport. Although she was right, it was probably best to stop here.

"So, Kazuha-chan, you said there'd be a Kendo tournament here soon?" Ran changed the topics rather tactfully, smiling at them both.

Kazuha-chan nodded, elbowing Hattori a little. "Yeah! An' Heiji might end up competin'. You'll both come if that happens, right?" She clasped her hands together, and Hattori grinned.

"Of course I'll compete. Hell, I'll take tha championship fer sure! Someone's gotta give Neechan a bit of a competition here an' there, right?" He puffed his chest proudly, grinning ear to ear.

"Yeah, well, don't get distracted or somethin' before tha tournament ends like _last time_!" Kazuha-chan seemed a little annoyed, and it didn't take long for Conan to recall the time they had been invited to see the finals, only for it to be interrupted by a case.

"I'd like to see Heiji-niichan fight, for once." Conan said, smiling. "I bet he's real good!" He'd seen him use his bokken or swords plenty of time to at least attest to that. Hattori seemed to preen at the praise, and Conan let him be this time.

"Me too, I love watching martial arts!" Ran said, her tone placid but excited. She was definitely not exaggerating, and Conan knew that well.

"A tournament of some kind? What's it about?" A new voice piped up, one he was now fairly acquainted with. Conan turned to see Sera behind them, grinning eagerly.

"Ah! Sera-chan!" Ran greeted, motioning to the stool beside her. "Are you here to eat?" Kazuha-chan and Hattori both said their greetings.

"Sure am!" Sera took the seat offered to her, then leaned forward, supporting her head with her hand as her elbow propped on the bar table. "So what's this about a tournament?"

"Oh, a kendo tournament that will take place here in Tokyo." Kazuha-chan supplied helpfully, motioning to Hattori. "He may not look it, but Heiji's the team captain of our school, so he'll hopefully be able ta attend. He just has ta make it through the first one."

"Hoooooh…." Sera seemed very, very, interested, but their chat was halted as Sayo-san arrived with their bowls, setting them down first for the westerners, then for himself and Ran. "Hello, Mari-chan!" She greeted, laughing a little when Sera corrected her once again. It seemed both workers of the ramen shop were fond of that nickname for her now.

Ogura-san turned to them then. "Ah, Mari-chan! What will it be?" Sera signed, her expression seemingly one of having given up correcting people, and shrugged. "The usual!" She said, instead, as she rolled her shoulders a bit. "Comin' right up!"

Conan's attention drifted from that to Hattori and Kazuha, who seemed to be about to try the ramen they had been given. There was something about the first time people tried the ramen in this particular place.

Both their faces lit up after their first taste. "Whoah!" "IT'S GREAT!" Both Kazuha-chan and Hattori sat up straight, although Hattori was a lot more physical in his gesturing at just how good it was.

"M-maybe not tha best…" He said after a moment's pause and seeing Ogura-san's victory grin. "But it's definitely tha best I've had in Tokyo." He nodded to himself, and Kazuha nodded as well, digging in after. Hattori didn't take long to follow.

Well, without waiting longer, Conan dug into his own, watching as Sera was served soon after. It was only then that Ran started to eat, ever the considerate one. The food was good, they enjoyed it at each other's side in near silence until the bowls were empty and stomachs were satisfied.

* * *

While Ran was a little concerned for the extra food Sera was taking home with her, as was usual, she had insisted to come with them to get ice cream. Ran and Kazuha-chan were quick to agree after reassurance that it'd be fine if she went for a short walk before heading back home, and Hattori had no objections. Still, due to their talk earlier, it'd be a little awkward to make conversation, especially since now everyone present was aware that it was quite likely Sera knew as well.

No one wanted to cross the agreement to not force the conversation or engage it period, which he was thankful for, but he was learning fairly quickly that it wasn't just Hattori who didn't do so well on the secrets front.

It wasn't exactly that Kazuha-chan was bad at it. Hell, Hattori wasn't exactly bad at it either, they just made… for quite the terrible actors when it came to side-eyeing him whenever Shinichi was mentioned and such. Ran was a natural, as he had come to expect, but it served to accent the little hiccups the others made more, in his very paranoid opinion.

Not that he was blaming Ran or anything! Or anyone! God, he was sweating, his palms were sweating, and he was pretty sure he looked a little ill, judging by the look of concern Ran was giving him. Wait… why did everyone else sound so far away?

"Are you okay, Conan-kun? You look a little sick…" Ran started, her voice hushed as she tried to slow down her walk while holding his hand. It was then he noticed she had waited until the other three were a bit ways off, he was thankful she didn't accidentally make it a big deal in front of everyone.

"Y-yes." He stammered, then looked at his feet as they continued to walk. "Well… no."

Of course he wasn't. Suddenly, he doesn't have to act for a few hours, and he feels like he can't do it anymore? Like he'll mess up oh so easily. It was eating at his nerves, and it wasn't helping that he had plenty of spiraling thoughts earlier in the day. It was piling up.

And, well, he couldn't find it in himself to lie to her about his well being when he was obviously so shaken. Especially right after he had tried his best to be honest with his friends. God, his nerves were killing him. His feet slowed to a stop, and he sighed, deciding not to talk about what, exactly, was wrong in such a public space like a sidewalk. Ran didn't waste a moment, picking him up to catch up to the others. He didn't even have it in him to complain, hiding his face against her neck. She gingerly took his glasses from him before he smashed them more against his face, placing them who knows where. He didn't make the effort to look.

"Take a small break, okay?" Ran whispered to him, then caught up to the rest. He could tell mostly because now he could make out what they were saying.

"Ran-chan, what happened?" Kazuha-chan. She sounded concerned.

"Oh, nothing, it just looks like Conan-kun feels a little sleepy.." Ran's excuse sounded like it didn't take any effort to say. He decided to act his part by circling his arms around her neck rather than letting them hang on his sides, hiding his face more against her. "So I'm carrying him until he recharges. You know how kids are… they get drowsy after a meal." He could have laughed at the excuse, but it was infuriatingly true for him at times, even if it was not this instance.

"Kiddo needs a nap, huh?" Hattori asked, then shrugged. "It's fine, but he promised ta pay fer tha ice cream, so he better deliver." He felt a sudden motion, like he was dragged to the side without Ran moving, possibly her twisting her waist.

"Heiji! Ya prick! Don't poke tha kid." Kazuha-chan's exclamation explained what had happened, Hattori had gone for a poke and Ran had moved so he couldn't. Sera laughed then.

"Promised to pay? Did he lose a bet?" Sera asked, suddenly very interested.

Conan groaned. While he had never intended to nap, them being so loud was oversaturating for some reason, not to mention he didn't really want Sera pressing about this. He felt a hand comb through his hair, recognizing it as Ran, as well as the shushing noises. Were he in a state to care about his dignity and appearances, he would have squirmed out of her arms at this point. However, right now, he didn't really have it in him to care, just focus on breathing.

"It's a long story…" Ran started, disarmingly. It made Conan wonder if Sera thought that more suspicious.

"Conan-kun lost tha cupons he had saved fer me an' Heiji." Kazuha-chan picked up without faltering. "Tha ones for a sauce my mom likes."

"Since we had ta pay in full he promised ta buy us ice cream next time we came over." Hattori continued, he could hear the smile on the guy's face. "That around sums it up."

He felt Ran nod, probably awkwardly, considering how she had a child clinging to her neck. "He felt pretty bad about it, Kazuha-chan was excited about it and the festival."

"I'm still kinda upset Heiji up an' dumped us fer a case that time." Kazuha-chan spoke up, he couldn't resist the urge to snicker, but at least it was barely audible considering his position. "Maybe he should buy us a treat too." He was feeling a little better now that the attention turned to something else.

"Whaaaa?" Hattori stammered. "T-that was a case we ran inta! It's not like we wanted ta be right next to tha guy who got stabbed an' stuff... "

"It was still rude, you're tha one who told us ta come!"

"Hahaha… I get it, I get it…" Sera broke into the brewing battle. Brave soul. Brave, foolish soul. It seemed to have done the trick somewhat. "Is he treating Ran-chan too?" Well, now the topic was brought RIGHT BACK. He shuddered a little, knitting his brow in concern since his face was hidden. Ran merely let out a hum in agreement.

"I was the one who entrusted him with the coupons, after all." Ran said, and he felt his concern leave. It sounded perfectly reasonable. "Ah, here we are." Looks like they had arrived to the stand. He pulled his head away from his childhood friend to peer around with bleary eyes, then rubbed them with one hand, his left gripping onto Ran's shoulder. She slipped the glasses back onto his face when he stopped, but now he had a better idea of their surroundings.

Their location was not far off from the Agency, actually, but he knew they'd have to depart to the subway station after getting the ice cream. It was getting late…

"Mmmm, so you won't buy me ice cream too, Conan-kun?" Sera suddenly asked as she moved into his line of vision. He bit back an 'eep', instead sticking his tongue out while trying to act like a drowsy child.

"I don't think he has enough money on him for it, Sera-chan." Ran said with a smile, likely trying to dissuade the situation. He didn't think it was necessary, it sounded to him like Sera was joking.

"Unless he suddenly lost a coupon fer ya too." Hattori said, grinning and winking, before moving ahead and speaking to the stand owner. Kazuha-chan went off after him, leaving Sera to sigh morosely. "Aw, man."

And then, she laughed, shrugging her shoulders. "I was joking, though, don't worry." With a wink, she then said she'd wait until they were done. It made sense, it'd be easier to just put all their orders together first so he could pay for it. Ran approached to do so as well.

"What would you like, Conan-kun?" She asked him, eyeing the options herself. The stand that sold little trays with six flavors of your choosing was closed today, so they had gone to the one that sold cones. He didn't mind either way, but doubted he could have footed the bill to the more expensive stand.

"Vanilla." He wasn't really up for anything fancy. Ran asked for strawberry, he didn't hear what the other two had asked for, but did hear the total. Reaching for his shorts' pockets, Conan dug out his cash, counted the amount and handed it to Ran, who then handed it to the owner, who commented on how responsible the 'little boy' was being. He was tired, he wasn't exactly in the best mood, but he did his damn best to take it as a compliment, smiling at the man. Sera stepped up after to get her order and, soon enough, they found themselves walking again towards the station.

Or being carried, in Conan's case. He didn't think himself capable of walking yet.

Hattori and Kazuha-chan had gone for chocolate, it seemed, while Sera had also asked for strawberry. Pretty simple flavors, considering the sheer amount the stand had, but maybe everyone wasn't up to anything too flavorful after having their fill of quite the delicious ramen.

"You guys have been in a lot of cases together." Sera started, pensive. Conan dreaded where she'd go with this, but was also curious. "How did you all meet?"

A valid question, honestly.

"... Hattori-kun just kind of showed up one day." Ran answered, Hattori had the decency to look embarrassed. "He was looking for Shinichi, because he wanted to see who was better and all."

God, that felt like a lifetime ago. If he was honest to himself, he much preferred Hattori now that he knew he was actually his age, rather than when he treated him poorly due to his appearance.

"I was sick that day." Conan said, scrunching his nose. "Heiji-niichan made me drink wine."

"Wait - seriously?" Sera asked, eyes now wide as he looked from Conan to Hattori and back. Hattori laughed, "Hey, it was a family remedy, an' I had brought it with me as a gift. It's only proper an' all."

"It just made Conan-kun worse, though." Ran added, not so helpfully, as Hattori rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, hey, different bodies react differently." Hattori's response was laced with a laugh, and Conan's brow twitched a little. Different bodies… hahaha. "I kinda feel bad, he was bedridden fer days." Conan sighed.

"Aw, I didn't know that part." Kazuha-chan said, suddenly concerned. "I know Kudou-kun showed up, tho'…" She added, then trailed off, her eyes widening. She then slapped her forehead.

"Really?" Sera asked, looking very very puzzled. "Over the phone?"

All four of them paused, and Conan realized it was taking the other three their everything to not turn and look at him. "I donno." Conan answered with a shrug. "I was resting in another room…"

Ran nodded at that. "We had gone to a client's home with Hattori-kun, and Conan-kun just got worse and worse, so I took him to rest on a guest room."

Hattori took over from there, it felt like they were all banding together to string an excuse or response.

"Kudou called up later an' corrected my mistake in tha deduction when I told him everythin' over tha phone, as well as what I thought happened." Hattori's words sounded like a pretty good response, considering they had skipped the reason why 'Shinichi' had 'called'. "It was my bad, really, I was tryin' so hard ta prove I was better, that I went with tha most promisin' lead. If my head were clearer, I'd have probably not made that mistake." Hattori sighed, rubbing his temples. "Learned somethin' that day."

"He kind of just hung up after it was all said and done, though." Ran said, shrugging a little. "Although the reason he had called at first was just to talk to me." Okay, there was the reason, and it was technically true, but he had done that BEFORE Hattori had arrived.

Conan was glad Sera had given them that excuse, leaning back against Ran with a sigh. "I missed it. I couldn't even see straight." Hattori and Ran raised a brow at that, looking at him in surprise. He nodded. "My ears were ringing and everything!"

"Ouch… sorry ta hear, kiddo." Hattori said as Kazuha-chan seemed suddenly very interested in her phone. Conan soon felt his phone vibrate, and realized she had sent him a message, or maybe the entire group. It was likely she wanted to hear the full story later. She then made a show to check the train schedules, sighing in relief. "Ah… I thought we were runnin' a lil late, but it looks like we still have time." It was a few blocks left to the station and all.

"Hmmm…" Sera said, trailing off. "So I guess you guys hit it off after that?" She seemed a little confused as to why they met up so often now even if they had to take a train to and from Osaka.

"Kinda." Hattori said, laughing a little. "It was when we met up next that me an' Conan-kun hit it off, tho', as well as Neechan."

"We argued a lot before then, though…" Conan pointed out, finishing his ice cream and cone. Ran took the remainder from his hands without asking, tossing it in the nearest bin along with her own. Man… he felt like an actual little kid when she did that.

"Hah. Guess so." Hattori, too, had finished off his ice cream, hands now in his pockets. In fact, everyone seemed to have. "It was when I invited them ta Osaka that Kazuha met 'em."

Kazuha-chan, then, turned bright red. "I confused Ran-chan here for the 'Kudou' he kept talkin' 'bout." She said, embarrassed, as Sera started to laugh.

"Really? How come?" The girl asked, thinking this was very, very funny for some reason or another.

Kazuha-chan opened her mouth, then closed it, then shrugged her shoulders. "Well, Heiji never said what Kudou-kun looked like… an' I thought he said tha one comin' ta visit was Kudou-kun, not his friend an' her family…" She rubbed the back of her head, and Conan was sure she was trying to think of a reason why that wasn't Hattori saying outright that 'Kudou' was coming. "I probably misheard him, because he said that in tha middle of talking about some case or another." Close enough, Kazuha-chan.

Ran laughed nervously. "It took a while before we got along well, though…" She said as Conan squirmed a little. He felt better now, so he'd rather walk the rest of the way. Ran set him down then.

"Sorry about that, Ran-chan! I was so mean ta you…" Kazuha-chan said, earnest in expression and words. Conan tilted his head then, realizing something. "Yeah um… you guys didn't really get along until that case with the shirt and balconies and stuff… what happened?"

He was actually curious as to how they went from awkward to friends so quickly.

"N-nothin ya need ta know about! Heiji either!" Kazuha-chan said, crossing her arms and turning away. "It's girl stuff! Right?"

Ran nodded eagerly, looking a little flustered herself, although both seemed to be smiling a little.

"Ooooh… then can you tell me in secret?" Sera asked, hands clasped together.

Ran and Kazuha-chan looked at each other, then seemed to reach some sort of silent agreement. "What's yer phone number?" Kazuha-chan finally asked, rubbing her hands together before taking out her own.

"Seriously?!" Hattori asked, looking about as miffed as Conan felt. Still, Conan himself let it go after a few moments, it seemed harmless enough. "That's not fair, guys." Kazuha-chan turned away, pretending to be ignoring him while typing down Sera's number.

Well, he understood Hattori's exasperation to an extent, but something told him it was something they didn't want them in particular to know. Or, at the very least, Hattori.

They arrived to the station then, and Kazuha-chan dragged the still-complaining Hattori up the stairs once they had said their goodbyes. "Talk to ya later, Ran-chan, Sera-chan!" Kazuha said with a wink, heading off to buy the tickets with her childhood friend in tow.

"Do you want us to walk you home, Sera-chan?" Ran asked, and Conan tilted his head at that. They didn't know where Sera had settled now, actually.

"Nah, it's kinda far, so it'd be too out of the way for you guys. I'll just take a cab here." She said, waving it off. "Gotta take my takeout home and all."

And so they waved Sera goodbye, waiting for her to take a cab before heading back themselves. Conan sighed then, shoulders sagging.

Ran turned to him, brows raised in a silent question. Conan shrugged it off, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he walked alongside of her. "Long day." He said, peering at his phone then. While Kazuha-chan HAD sent the question about that day, there was also an apology there for having mentioned his real self being there, and that she'd work on it to not mention him again to others. Well… it wasn't all that bad. He smiled to himself, sent a few words in turn, and pocketed his phone.

"Let's go home, Ran-neechan." He said, raising his hand for hers to take. They could sort out their own things after some R&R. She took his hand, and they headed off to the Agency.

Things were starting to change.


	4. Intermission I

Something had been fishy when Neechan and Kazuha all but dragged Kudou to Neechan's room after they had gotten back from the mess that had been the café. He had not been allowed in, for some reason or another. It was driving him up the wall, tempting him to inch a little closer. Maybe then he'd be able to tell what the hell was going on.

It didn't help when Kazuha came out to check what he was doing about half an hour later as he watched the door, tapping his foot. Like she was making sure he wasn't eavesdropping. It just made it all the more suspicious to him. He debated entering, especially when he overheard some louder noises that only lasted a few moments. Maybe Kudou was in trouble, maybe he was enjoying this shit. Traitorous little bastard. He crossed his arms and seethed. Peeking in was looking mighty tempting, and hell, it was taking all of him to just not act impulsively.

When the group finally emerged, he tried to catch Kudou by himself to get an idea of what was happening. However, the lil' shit was tight lipped, for some reason. His eyebrow twitched as he thought back on it. They had gone in soon after, with Kazuha saying something or other about some sort of gang.

He really, really wanted to find out what was going on behind that door.  
And so, he decided the most logical thing to do was to just… go inside. No more waiting and attempting to strain his ears to hear without being caught.

And so he stood, steeled himself, and strode to the door, opening it with a burst and a scowl to find…  
What.

When he regained his senses and stopped staring, he quickly left the room, closing the door and hurrying away. While he heard some nervous laughter in his wake from Neechan, he had no idea what that was about.  
And, at the moment, he didn't want to find out anyway, pacing around the room to try and figure out just what was happening outside of that… incident. The why, really. From what he saw, it was a fairly normal sleepover, although they seemed to have gotten drinks this late at night… and had set up a small table of some sorts to drink and eat stuff on. It sounded pretty innocent, but he still had his suspicions. It was just so odd… they had never included Kudou in their activities before, the ones they tended to do together when they hung out. At least, not if he wasn't invited…

His mind worked, turning the pieces of evidence he had seen to reach some sort of conclusion. All he was able to discern, however, is that they had taken Conan with them because they needed him for something. Something they didn't need HIM for. Was it for a surprise and asking Kudou to get information on him for a present? Was it to grill Kudou about him? Was it to rope him into some sort of scheme? Was it to discuss things about kids? (Kazuha did have an interest in learning to take care of 'em and all) But why leave him out of the last one without telling him it's what they were up to? He'd have definitely stepped back then, let Kudou deal with that shit.

No, he was sure, it was something they didn't want the uninvited to know about. Kazuha looked like the ringleader, not Neechan… and it was likely something they orchestrated while him and his fellow detective had been away. After all, before then, Kazuha had no intention speaking to 'Conan'.

Hm.

He didn't have enough to work with. Scrubbing at his hair in frustration, Heiji sighed, then trudged off to the old man's room. Might as well sleep for now, sometimes pillows made for good counsel. He'd figure it out, or wring it out of Kudou before they left.

…

…

That is… **if** the old man could stop snoring so he could get some goddamn sleep.

"Curse ya for leavin' me alone ta suffer this hell, Kudou…" Heiji grumbled under his breath.

* * *

Being unable to sleep much, Heiji stalked out of the room a little after sunrise, pacing once more. He tried to check Neechan's room, or at least try to overhear, but there were no more noises now… they had all gone to bed.

There didn't seem to be signs they had left the room, aside from the dishes being washed… it looks like someone came back last night to do those. Or all of them did. He wasn't sure, there was not much of an indication of how many hands were responsible for the work.

For all his scrutiny, he couldn't find anything out of place, and while he was sure he could probably enter the room now, Heiji knew Kazuha was a light sleeper, and Kudou tended to vary in his experience. He didn't want to risk being caught peeking in. To his knowledge, the only one who slept like a log was Neechan, from some things Kudou had told him.

And so, he paced, had something to eat to calm his stomach, then paced some more. His thoughts ran in circles, as he had very little to go on, to help him along into making that deduction. He had no one to ask, and he knew if he barged into that room he'd get yelled at, probably, so all he could do was think.

So lost in thought he was, in fact, that he was almost startled when a door opened, only to spot Kudou walking towards the kitchen in a sleepy stupor. He followed after the shorter detective, hands stuffed in the pockets of his jacket, feeling a little grouchy.

"Kudou..." Heiji started, watching as 'Conan-kun' pulled out some food from the fridge to heat up. No other reason to take out food you should eat warm, unless he was one of those weirdos that ate cooked food cold. "What happened last night?" At least, he could finally know. Without Kudou being surrounded by the others, there was no need for the guy to lie to him, right?

"Just a lot of pillow talk." Was the fairly dismissive answer, at least in his opinion, and Heiji tried his best not to seethe. He failed. Kudou continued to prepare his breakfast. "Some stuff you're better off not knowing." Plate was popped in the microwave, and Heiji felt his temper warm up with the food as well.

"Don'tcha give me that, Kudou." It was a warning, and Heiji was sure the other could hear his intent. "What was it they talked about with ya? And what was up with when I opened the door?" Well, that second part was the least of his worries, but if he could get answers for that as well, he'd feel a lot better.

The answer he got was… fairly honest. It had been a dare, he had walked right into it. Kudou wasn't lying, even if the bastard had gotten good at certain lies, and after a blink and absorbing the information, he nodded, but nudged the other to continue along with words. What else? Anything ABOUT him? He had come to that conclusion, at least… it was what made the most sense.

Kudou's answer, while evasive, was a message he understood enough. The gist of what had been said was that Kazuha actually liked him back, and the topic of conversation was probably about him as he had somewhat suspected. Specifically, love related. As such, for now, he stepped back, knowing he had stepped on a boundary on accident. It wasn't like he intended to make Kudou feel worse about his situation when presented with, well, Heiji's own.  
It was just something that couldn't be helped. For all the mishaps, he had it better than the Detective of the East.

Kudou went to sit down, and once he was, Heiji followed after, settling himself across from him.

What he didn't expect, however, was for Kudou to continue. His eyebrows rose in interest as he was told a little more about last night, leaning forward. Now it made sense that Kazuha didn't want to tell him, and why Kudou avoided talking to him when the girls were around. It wasn't just that they didn't want him to know, it was because it was about him in a very… ah, in a sense she wouldn't have wanted Heiji to know. He was sure of that. Still, it was vague. He needed more. "Like what, Kudou? What did you answer?" What kind of things did they ask for, specifically.

Kudou seemed hesitant, perhaps a little concerned, but before his fellow detective could answer him, voices spoke up from behind. Heiji almost jumped, having been so into the conversation. Neechan walked out, dressed properly like he was, and Kazuha stumbled out soon after in a little more of a mess. It seemed to Heiji that it was him and Neechan who were morning people, while the other two were definitely not. It was kind of funny, really.

Kazuha came to take a seat with them, only to inform him… they were already leaving? What? He didn't miss the affectionate gesture towards Kudou, but suppressed his jealousy bubbling underneath. Kudou took it in stride, all things considered.

"Already? What?" He hadn't finished questioning his buddy here! He made sure the other knew, eyeing him until Kudou looked back at him. It wasn't over! He'd learn what had happened in that room, if he had to phone the guy until Kudou got sick of 'im.

Kazuha had a good point, even if he didn't like being bossed around to go get his stuff. There was no point in delaying it out of spite, especially now that Neechan was here. Almost like the no fight zone had spread through the entire room. With a grumble, he stood and left to gather his stuff as Kudou trotted off to probably wash his plate. The packing didn't take him long, even if it was annoying to be in the same room as the old man (dude kept talking in his sleep!), as he had already done most of it.

He returned to a strange scene, one he felt he was missing context on. There was nothing odd about it, other than how oddly close Kudou and Neechan were, or the fact that all three looked like they were sharing some sort of idea without even speaking.

He voiced his concerns. "Why do ya three look like yer about to play a prank on someone?" Heiji asked, genuinely curious. Neechan and Kudou had the dignity to try and look innocent. Kazuha, however, didn't. Maybe she knew it was futile, maybe she thought it was funny. "Nothin', nothin'," Kazuha said, lies and slander he was sure, "lets go."

Kazuha turned her attention to Neechan, apologized, and headed off to wash her plate as Heiji waited for her to finish, now unable to ask Kudou questions, since they were far too close. Once Kazuha was done, he headed out with her, still a little off-put from not knowing everything. Curiosity was killing him, dammit!  
He was about to give his own goodbyes as Kazuha said her own, when he caught the last tidbit.

 _'_ ** _Shinichi_** _-kun?!'_

His stomach dropped. He was sure his heart backflipped. Heiji stared incredulously at Kazuha, then at the two Tokyoites as they took it in stride and merely waved after them. Kudou's face had a fucking shit-eating grin, and Kazuha was no better. Sputtering to ask for answers, Heiji was dragged off by his childhood friend, trying to simultaneously yell out and contain his outburst.

Whaaaaat?!

* * *

Now on the way home, Heiji had three hours to kill, as they had to take the Hikari line due to the Nozumi being completely booked (besides, it wasn't covered by the Rail Pass anyway). Kazuha, of course, refused to say anything, and he figured it made sense, because as of now his most pressing questions had to do with an identity they were supposed to hide. As such, he texted Kudou.

It took the bastard 20 minutes to get around to answering. He had seen it right away. That little shit.

Only for his fucking answer to be 'I know.' No shit he knew he had a lot of explaining to do! 'Then why dontcha start?' He typed up heatedly, Kazuha idly texting next to him.

The next response from Kudou, however, took him by surprise. 'Hang on, it's better if we all talk'. What? 'Ran's making the group now.' Wait. Oh. He peered at Kazuha's phone, and before she turned away while sticking her tongue out at him, he managed to catch the last part. It seemed Neechan had sent her something similar. Looks like the two who could actually speak out loud about this at the moment to each other had come to an agreement.  
It explained the delay, but just a little.

The chat was created, and soon after that, Kudou sent a text.  
'So, uh, due to unforeseen circumstances, Ran-neechan and Kazuha-neechan are in'. He was confused by his use of honorifics, before realizing it was the Conan phone he was using. It didn't take him long to realize it was for precaution, especially with Kudou using mostly hiragana in his text.

As much as he may make jabs at the guy for his acting on occasion, he was actually pretty good. He was using too many big words, though. Then again, 'Conan-kun' did, so he supposed it was still _in character_. God, he'd hate to have to keep track of a fake personality's quirks and shit.

Another text was sent. 'We should meet up when we have a time and place set up.' Kudou again, with a cute little sticker afterwards to boot of a cat. Too far, dude. 'I hope your trip goes well!'

'Aw, thanks, Conan-kun!' That was Kazuha. He side-eyed her, and she ignored him with a grin. 'Make sure to let us know as soon as possible, okay?'

'How'd ya two get in, anyway?' Heiji finally asked, deciding to try to use vague language like they were, but also getting straight to the point. He saw no need to beat around the bush so much. 'Conan-kun is generally a jealous doorman.' Yeah, the lil shit didn't spill easy unless you blackmailed him or something.

What the hell did they find to blackmail him, anyway? And when? Or did he just slip up during conversation?

'We found his phone for him.' Was Neechan's answer, and his eyes widened. 'It seemed he had misplaced it.' Wait, wait, wait… they found Kudou's phone? Or Conan's phone? And when?

'So we thought we ought to give it back to him when you two came back.' Kazuha finished. Wow. Brutal. Kudou left his older self's phone upstairs, that had to be it. If during their talk Neechan had decided to text Kudou and they found it…

'It's not like I can't say it's not mine, and I didn't want to, so I let them in. It's okay, though. I don't mind.' Was Kudou's response. He had to wonder how much of that was true.  
Kudou was stellar at putting up with shit he shouldn't without yelling like HE would have.

'Oh.' Heiji responded. He wanted to ask if he was really okay with it, but it felt like thin ice to walk, especially on a group chat, on the train, with strangers nearby.

Instead, he followed with the next. 'What's with how ya talk about Neechan's man, Kazuha?' He decide to ask, 'smoothly' changing the subject. As subtle as a bull in a china shop, but hey.

'Jealous?' Kazuha asked, adding a winking face, and Hattori tried not to yell in frustration. That little… taking it in a completely different direction. 'No!' He typed in return.

It just got worse.

'I guess that's what Heiji-niichan really wanted to talk about.' Kudou, you little shit-

'I think it's sweet that he noticed.' Not Neechan too!

'I'm surprised he did.' KAZUHA!

'I'm not.' Oh, thanks, Kudou- 'I'm surprised he didn't yell about it right there and then.' NEVERMIND.

'I hate all of you.' He finally typed in, face forming into a scowl, before deciding to score some revenge points.

The train ride back home suddenly went a lot faster.

* * *

While he understood Kudou's precautions, it didn't mean he wouldn't get impatient while he waited for a response for a time and place. It felt like too long a wait when the guy confirmed their meeting place. Tension between him and Kazuha was a little biting, they both rose to a spat quicker than usual. He knew it, she knew it, and it had to do around a little secret he had been privy to but she had not.

At least, on his fourth call to Kudou, the guy had told him more about that night. Not much he could divulge due to a rule between the three involved, but he supposed he could at least give them that. At least now he had a bigger idea of what had gone on, and a bigger grip on what had actually driven the other detective to confess when he had pushed his way out of that before.

And so, when they finally got a time and place, Heiji felt a bit of a weight lift from him, as well as anticipation. Kudou had said during one of their calls, there were things he wanted to tell him about too. He figured it was just new case stuff or something, the guy had never left him out before.

Right?

It was a sentiment he carried as he arrived to Tokyo, as Neechan took him to Kudou's house, as the guy received them and tried to host. As Kudou told the two of why he was as he was, with a little more detail than he had heard the first time. He held onto that sentiment until Kudou finally said… he had kept things from him too. About a dangerous guy!

Before he could yell at his friend for doing that, however, reasons were given, and while it did not take the anger away, something else did.  
Kudou accidentally outed the small Neechan.

While the guy tried to recover, Hattori wasn't sure if he should laugh, yell or slap his forehead. Kudou was in worse shape than he thought - but his thoughts were interrupted before that one was allowed to finish, Kazuha turning towards him to ask him about his particular nickname for the little girl next door.

He stuck his tongue out at her and laughed, and he wasn't really sure why. Maybe it was the nerves, maybe because it was funny even if the nickname technically outed her, maybe it was that he wasn't sure how to release anger from the betrayal that hadn't left his feelings.  
The feeling settled deeper as Kudou spoke of things, some he knew of, others he did not.

 _How much does trust mean ta this guy?!_ Heiji seethed to himself, until he couldn't let it brew any longer. The FBI that apparently knew his identity was the tipping point.

"Ya didn't tell me about that either, Kudou." His voice showed his anger, in his opinion, as he leaned forward to observe further, but perhaps also intimidate. He was feeling really close to an outburst. "How much have ya been hiding?" From him. He thought the dude trusted him! He valued the truth over all!

And then, Kazuha slapped him. His eyes widened as he looked at her, rubbing his cheek, and he realized several things in that moment.

-He was in the same room as two other people who had been told even less.

-Kudou had likely done that for a reason, the guy never seemed to have liked lying.

-In fact, he had explained his reasoning before, and now that he thought back on it, it made _sense_.

-He had the least right to feel offended of not being told, when the person across from them who was not the eastern detective had known Kudou for far longer, and was only now being told the truth.

Kazuha scolded him, and he huffed about it. The slap had been enough, thank you. "Oi, Kazuha." He started, getting ready for another argument, when a voice stopped him. Neechan had her ways in being a presence that forced a stalemate. "Not right now, Hattori-kun-" She spoke, only to be interrupted by Kazuha. She was promptly scolded as well.

He turned to look at Neechan and Kudou, Kazuha doing the same, and stared blankly as he tried to gather his wits about him. Well, he was still feeling a bit of a sting but… the slap helped more than he was willing to admit. He rubbed his cheek, but took offense as Kazuha slid away from him, turning away from her as well as he crossed his arms and pouted. Two could play at that game!

Of course, he refocused back his attention to Kudou, but that was information he already knew. He felt this meeting was reaching its endpoint, at the very least, on the reveal end, until Neechan asked a question in particular.  
One he had not thought about either as he watched Kudou struggle with words.

And then, he watched Kudou admit he had never thought about it.

It didn't take a genius to figure out WHY Neechan had thought about it. Simply, it had been a question that had been on her mind since she was told how dangerous this was. Perhaps, it had been a question she had thought of even before this meeting. It had taken some time for them to meet up… it left plenty of thinking time about things one did not understand.

What Heiji didn't know, and he was sure Kudou did not know either, is why exactly they had not thought of that themselves. Why even the paranoid small Neechan hadn't. Why were their mentalities so black and white on the subject?  
Kudou's words made sense, but it'd be something he'd think about himself on his own time.

And then Kazuha went out of her way to throw him under the bus. "Hey!"

He'd think about the questions Neechan had posed to him unknowingly later, right now he had a fight to win.


	5. Intermission II

Kazuha had plans, of course. She had plans for a lot of things, but she hadn't expected for Heiji to say yes to one of them! Of course, she was very excited to go, and to burn off that excess energy on her want that the time would just get here already for the festival, she offered to help Ran-chan with her chores. After all, two cooks got the job done faster than one, right? The boys left, and Kazuha noted idly that it seemed Conan-kun forgot his phone, leaving it behind. Oh well, they were just going right downstairs, and they could just text Heiji if they needed the boys to come back. It'd be fine.

She turned her attention back to cooking, deciding to focus on that instead of the thought of going to a festival like that with Heiji coming _willingly_!

She felt so giddy, in fact, that she accidentally forgot to add the soy sauce, and had noticed too late. Quickly, they changed the dish to curry and hoped for the best. It was as they let the food simmer and prepared to go that Kazuha asked Ran-chan, jokingly, to send Kudou-kun a text of where they were going. "Maybe he'll show his face, Ran-chan!" She said, clasping her hands together once she had removed the apron. Ran-chan laughed nervously, waving it off, but she insisted.

"No, no… he's probably busy, Kazuha-chan." The tokyoite said, smiling gently as she set the aprons away.

"That's fine, Ran-chan." Kazuha insisted, poking at Ran-chan's shoulder playfully. "Maybe it'll make him jealous an' want to come with, though! It's such a great motivator to finish that case of his."

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to let him know where I'm going…" Ran said after a moment's thought, a little pensive and apparently amused. She sent a quick text…

And the phone on the table, left forgotten by Conan-kun, vibrated.

"Ran-chan…" Spoke Kazuha with pause. "Did ya send ta tha right number?"

Ran-chan's eyes widened in horror towards the phone on the table (Suspicious!), then looked at her phone screen before, evasively, saying the following. "I must have made a mistake." She then smiled, the rest of her words natural. "I'll just resend it to Shinichi. It doesn't matter if Conan-kun got the text, it's just that we were going to the lights festival now. He might think it was just me informing them we were ready."

Kazuha acted on her suspicions, however, and moved to peek at her phone as Ran-chan tried to navigate away and explain, noticing right away that her friend was lying as she saw the order of contacts and most recent message. Had Ran-chan's look not drawn her attention, Kazuha was sure she'd have left it well enough alone and accepted the explanation. It had been so fluid and natural...

What was she hiding?

"I think it was tha right number." Kazuha insisted, trying to swipe the phone from her friend's hands. Ran-chan was faster, deftly and casually shifting the phone out of her reach.

"I saw it was tha right number." Kazuha corrected herself, and Ran-chan closed her flip phone in response, lips tightening in thought.

"Ran-chan…" Kazuha started, eyes narrowing slightly. "What's goin' on?"

Ran-chan took a breath, then approached the table, taking the phone that had been forgotten. She then returned to Kazuha's side, and she waited calmly for the explanation she knew would come.

"I had my suspicions about… something." Ran-chan started, her voice shaking as she flipped her phone open again. "But I never did have physical proof…" Showing Kazuha, she resent the text… and the phone vibrated once more, screen lighting up to show Ran-chan's name, just as 'Ran', as the sender.

Kazuha tried to think of what it meant, what Ran-chan meant, when she pressed call instead and waited. The voicemail when the call was dropped, however, told her _everything_.

That was Kudou-kun's voice.

Ran-chan hung up, pocketing both phones and letting out a sigh. "I've… confronted him about it before, but it never got anywhere because I had no proof." She said, seemingly unsure. "But now…"

It was still too much for Kazuha. "But they were in tha same room before!" Confusion showed on her face as she tried to work out the pieces, but that was - it was…

Something like that was just impossible! People didn't just change ages, right?

"I know. But back then… 'Conan-kun' was acting strange." Ran-chan said, then sighed and shook his head. "Just keep it between you and me for now…" Ran trailed off. "We should get going."

Kazuha wanted to argue, to continue, to get her to talk about this thing that felt so complex. It felt like the floor crumbled under her as the implications came to light about that particular revelation. How long had she suspected? Why? How was this possible? And most importantly, why was Kudou-kun keeping silent?

It didn't make sense at all, and she felt a sense of betrayal among that confusion. It was hard to walk as her mind began to reel, but she shook it off. For now they should go and have fun! As much fun as she could have, seeing the small child she had considered very cute and mature in a very different light.

"A… Alright…" She muttered, now in thought. Part of why she was nervous about ever confessing to Heiji was the uncertainty of how he felt in return, but maybe, if that kid was actually Kudou-kun… did boys talk about these things?

Could she convince him to at least give her that?

Her thoughts still whirled as they left the house, as she phoned Heiji that they were coming down to meet them(even if she was not ready to face Conan-kun). They slowed to a halt, however, as Heiji told her not to come to the cafe. Kazuha raised her hand a little to stop her friend from going further down, listening to what Heiji had to say. Scary movie filming? Go on ahead?

As she lied to Ran-chan and lead her away, she looked back to spot an ambulance and had to wonder…

If Heiji knew, he had been lying to her and Ran-chan both. She had just lied to Ran-chan to not scare her. Heiji had maybe even lied to her too about the filming.

Why did people lie? Sometimes it felt like it was to protect them and keep them happy, but…  
Was that okay?

On their path to Ginza, both girls stayed pensive and quiet instead of their usual chatter.

They had a lot to think about.

* * *

The lights were actually pretty spectacular, and did a great job of taking the troubling thoughts off Kazuha's mind. It was so beautiful! "It really does look magical, Ran-chan!" She exclaimed, eyes roving through the scenery. Ran-chan seemed equally enthralled, laughing a little herself. "Yes, it's like faeries lit all of the streets up."

It… it really was beautiful. Even as she digested this fact, the fact that she had just realized the two people they were waiting on had been lying to them both, she found herself yearning for Heiji to be here, but dreading for him to come. In spite of the betrayal she felt, slowly poking at her side, she felt regret that he wasn't here.

"I'm glad… that I was able to see this with ya, Ran-chan." Kazuha said, nerves in her bones, but letting out a sigh, turning to face her friend for a moment, before being unable to look her in the eye. She instead tried to focus on the lights, and not on the tears threatening to come.

"What do you mean?" Ran-chan asked, her tone concerned as she approached. Kazuha took a deep breath, if she didn't pace herself, she might cry.

"If I had watched it with Heiji, I-" Deep breath, Kazuha. "I could've felt dangerous emotions…" She tried to smile, looking up at the brightly lit lights, but could not help her expression slowly contorting to sorrow. "Ya really did save me there… really."

"K-Kazuha." Ran-chan called her attention, and even if she really didn't want to look, risk letting lose tears, something about how Ran-chan spoke… she was trying to deepen her voice. "Wah-"

"I love ya too, Kazuha!" Ran-chan said, arms spread and posture defiant but welcoming, in the best osakaben she could muster (That 'I' was a little outdated, though). Kazuha couldn't help but stare in shock, trying to understand, and when she did, a smile came to her face.

It kind of felt like something out of a romance movie, didn't it?  
"Well, Heiji wouldn't use that 'I'." Kazuha said with a small laugh, feeling lighter still, as well as some mixed feelings. "Ah! Sorry!" Ran-chan seemed a little alarmed at her slip-up, and Kazuha found it kind of cute. It was very much like her to do something like this.  
She would have, somehow, not minded if Ran-chan had meant it as herself. And yet, doing this for her… she really had to appreciate Ran-chan's efforts to cheer her up.

Kazuha was sure she wouldn't forget, holding this memory close to her. The ethereal look of the streets added to the charm.

"Still. Thanks, Ran-chan." Kazuha's words were genuine, and she felt her previous dreary mood fade a little more. Ran-chan smiled back. It felt everything would be okay.

Still, the two boys failed to show, and it was starting to worry her. "Where are those two, though…?" She asked herself as she took out her phone. "Heiji didn't pick up when I tried ta call him." Kazuha sighed, starting to type up a message instead.

It was then that she overheard from some people nearby.  
At Poirot there had not been a filming, there had been a murder.

"Ran-chan…" Kazuha started, looking back at her friend, who seemed a little worried. She nodded. "I was going to ask Conan-kun… but I was sure if I sent him a message, he'd notice…" She trailed off, and Kazuha understood. He might realize he's missing a phone, which might not be bad, but might be. Mostly if he ran off to look for it. At least, it was Kazuha's reasoning as to why she hadn't texted the… 'kid'.

"Guess Heiji lied ta me about why we should go on ahead…" Kazuha said in thought, and Ran-chan tilted her head a little. "Hm?"

Shit. Right. She didn't know the lie. Well… Kazuha could try to lessen it. "He said there was some kind o' filmin' goin' on." Well, it was true. God… she felt so hypocritical, but this was a little white lie, as well as Heiji's fib about the filming, in comparison to that really big one, right? "And that they'd catch up."

Ran-chan seemed a little vexed, but let it go, nodding a little. "Ah." She seemed to think for a moment, then laughed slightly to herself. "Hattori-kun probably didn't want you to miss it." It was her reasoning, anyway. "The festival, that is. You were the one who asked him to come, right?"

Well… that made sense. Still. "I think yer givin' the oaf too much credit." Kazuha grumbled. Ran-chan smiled a little at that, then motioned for them to go. "We should meet up with them, then." She suggested, calmly, and Kazuha was struck with an idea, reaching out to stop her friend from heading off.

"Wait a sec!" Kazuha blurted out, and Ran-chan turned to face her with a puzzled expression on her face. "Yes?" Ran-chan asked, and Kazuha considered what she was about to say.

"Tonight's your only chance, right?" Kazuha asked, motioning to the pocket where Ran had both phones. "If I stay over, do ya think it'd be easier ta get him ta admit it?" She suggested. Honestly, she wanted to do this both for herself and her questions, and for her friend. If the kid really was Kudou-kun…

"W-what?" Ran-chan stammered, then flushed. "Y-you don't have to worry about it, Kazuha-chan, you have your own troubles, and-"

"No, no." Kazuha insisted, wondering if Ran-chan had planned to let him off the hook all along, for one reason or another. She started to walk with Ran-chan anyway, making sure to speak in hushed tones. "I have my own questions for him an' all, so I thought it might be easier ta get him ta confess if, um, the focus isn't on him." Kazuha blushed then, and Ran-chan suddenly seemed interested.

"You want to ask him what he talked about in the café with Hattori-kun?" Ran-chan asked, seemingly now a little wily. Kazuha sputtered, she had been caught! "M… maybe. It wouldn't hurt ta know fer sure, right?!" And then, tried to lower her tone when she realized how much louder she had gotten. "That he likes me..." Kazuha whispered, softly. Ran smiled, but it soon faded. Kazuha noted she was trying to find how to word herself.

"Well, I'm just… I'm kind of worried, I guess." Ran-chan admitted, lowering her voice as well and sighing softly. "Shinichi had never held anything from me until he vanished… I thought it had to be something terrible that had happened." Kazuha felt incredulous, and looked the part too. It probably wasn't that serious, right?

"Shouldn't he have told ya he was in trouble, then?" Kazuha asked, incredulous. "Or the truth, I mean… it'd make sense. I think he's just embarrassed because what happened was somethin' dumb." She continued, then huffed. "Besides, he's shown up as himself before, right? Maybe he can come back whenever but isn't sure how ta face ya or somethin' dumb like that."

Ran-chan, however, felt unconvinced. "He always looks so ill when he's here…" She said, trailing off in worry. "Sometimes, I catch Conan-kun looking around like he's scared when we're in public..." She continued, hands clasped together now instead of letting Kazuha lead her by the wrist.

"I guess I can't say much since I don't know Kudou-kun very well, but… I still think it's nothin' serious. If it was, he should have told ya! It doesn't make sense otherwise. An' he has a way of comin' back, too." Kazuha insisted, frowning a little. "I guess we can drag it out of him, after I drag out the dirt he has on Heiji." Kazuha crossed her arms, nodding to herself.

"Serious or not, whatever made him little, he can at least give us some gossip, right? He's all yours afterwards and I'll make sure he doesn't run."

While Ran-chan seemed to have objections on Kudou-kun's behalf, she waved the concerns off for now. It'd be fine, they would just have to plan out how to separate Heiji from 'Conan-kun' to set their plan in motion. Not just to get the smaller to admit what they wanted, but to talk in comfort about what she wanted to talk about, what she wanted to know for sure. Hell, if she was lucky, he might even know about what happened at the bridge, what Heiji had really said back then.

His actions after had been cause for much confusion, she just wanted to let the matter finally rest. Liked her or not? Maybe then she could stop feeling so clammy at the thought of being rejected.

"If it turns out to just be Conan-kun and not your boyfriend, at least I'm pretty sure Conan-kun still has some dirt on Heiji, they talk a lot." Kazuha said, grinning with more confidence. "Lets not go with the assumption that he's somehow actually Kudou-kun for now." It felt so incredulous and unrealistic, but she couldn't deny that the phone was key evidence to something. What, she wasn't sure, not yet.

"I suppose so…" There was hesitation in Ran-chan's voice, but it seemed she wasn't fully opposed to the idea.  
They would arrive to Poirot soon.

* * *

Just as Heiji realized the time, she and Ran-chan walked through the door. "There's no need ta hurry anymore…" Kazuha started as she crossed her arms, eyeing the scene somewhat.

"Ka-Kazuha!" Heiji seemed surprised, mortified, and perhaps a little disappointed. She noticed Conan-kun at the corner of her eye, sedately making his way to Ran-chan's side while looking around with what seemed to be… suspicion?

"He's not here anymore." Conan-kun spoke up, looking up at Detective Takagi, who was also nearby. The man suddenly looked around, looking increasingly panicked, as Heiji tilted his head, then seemed to realize the same thing. What guy? Not here?

"You're right… that Wada Shinichi guy is gone." Takagi said, but before he could continue, Ran-chan spoke up. "Wada Shinichi?" She asked.  
Kazuha thought it was about that particular first name, it seemed both Conan-kun and Ran-chan were concerned, so it had to be it.

"A guy who was right here. He said he was Medical Personnel." The police detective continued, and now that Kazuha was watching, it seemed Conan-kun's expression darkened as he looked towards the door, wordless.

"Then… it's probably a fake name." Heiji and Kazuha both turned sharply to look at Ran-chan, who seemed nervous but worried as well, now looking to where Conan-kun was, then back to the police detective.

"Wait a sec… fake name?" Heiji looked confused, and looked towards Conan-kun for a second, who merely threw him a worried glance before looking up at Ran-chan. These silent exchanges…

She was worried about this also, though. A guy with a fake name? Here?

"I heard it from Shinichi before." Ran-chan continued, and Heiji turned to look at Conan-kun again, who was ignoring him. Kazuha turned back to her friend as she continued. "When Shelock Holmes' stories were brought to Japan in the Meiji era and translated, they were localized, including the names of Watson and Holmes."

"Watson's was localized to Wada Shinichi, and he was a war doctor, so…" Ran-chan trailed off, Conan-kun stiffly at her side, staring at the door.

"... I see." Takagi said, concerned, as Heiji scowled a little. "Why'd that guy haveta hide his name?" He wondered to himself, and his scowl deepened. "Tha guy was a major creep, too."

"Well…" Takagi said, then motioned to Heiji. "I'll report that to the Inspector, but could I have your witness statement, Hattori-kun? Conan-kun, too." Business as usual, she supposed. Kazuha was used to it, and sighed to herself.

"I think I can cover for both of us, we were sittin' in the same table an' all." Heiji said, sighing a little and seemingly disappointed. "I'll give tha statement real quick, we should probably catch a train after…"

"Oh, don't worry about that, Heiji." Kazuha said, grinning a little as she decided to push the plan forward. "We will spend the night and take the train tomorrow, it's better that way."

"Wah-" Heiji sputtered, but it seemed Conan-kun was ignoring the world now, staring at the door with concern unmasked in his expression. Ran-chan seemed a little worried watching him now.  
"Seriously?" Heiji continued, and Kazuha waved him off. "Yeah, yeah, so take your time doing what you haveta, okay?"

Heiji was lead by Detective Takagi to the nearby tables to give his statement, and Kazuha decided she might as well try to ask Conan-kun a few things first. She approached, then nudged his shoulder, despite Ran-chan's motions for her to stop. Conan-kun suddenly whirled around, eyes wide, looking like he was about to do… something, when he realized who it was. Taking a breath, the little boy tried to calm down, then shook his head. "You surprised me…" He said, softly, as he stepped back and away from her slightly. It didn't take Kazuha long to realize it was to look up at her better.

"Can you tell me more about that guy, Conan-kun? You seem worried…" Well, a part of her was also, if only because the kid was acting so weird. If it was Kudou-kun… it was an even bigger cause for concern.  
"I'd like to know too…" Ran-chan added, and Conan-kun looked back and forth between both, before turning to look at the door again.

"He looked like he was acting on someone's behalf." Conan-kun finally said, a distant look on his face. "Wore an earpiece… seemed to be recording someone when Heiji-niichan did his deduction show. He gave hints in a weird way, too…" He trailed off then, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"It didn't look malicious, but it worries me."

"Did he hurt anyone?" Ran-chan asked, concerned, as Kazuha digested the information. Well, now she knew why Conan-kun looked so concerned. It was understandable, really…

"No." Conan-kun answered, looking back at them. "I think he might have been talking with a detective, though." With that, he seemed to look behind them, and Kazuha turned to see Heiji walking up to them.

"Well, we can go now." Heiji said, sighing and rubbing the back of his head with his right hand. "What a pain… sorry for missin' tha festival, Kazuha."

It sounded so earnest that it hurt, the emotions previous to Ran's words were threatening to overtake her. She just tried to smile, but only managed a feeble one. "Just don't miss out next time, okay?"

She almost missed the look of utter sympathy that Conan-kun threw her way.

As the police escorted out the culprit and the main witnesses for further questioning, they left as well, heading to the Agency. The air hanging around them felt a little more tense than she'd like.

* * *

Ran-chan and Kazuha had heated themselves some dinner after coming home (the boys had snacked at Poirot and were, frankly, not hungry after that case), Ran's dad about to go to sleep. The situation was explained to the sleeping detective, who shrugged and told Heiji to not make much noise when he goes to sleep, and then went to do what he was famous for… somewhat. Kazuha almost giggled about it then, she almost giggled about it now, looking back on it. At the moment, Ran-chan was fetching some clothes Heiji could wear to sleep, as well as futons, with Kazuha's help. Kazuha herself would be borrowing some of Ran-chan's clothes, so she could get those later..

"They might be a little big, but I think it's the best fit." Ran-chan said, apologetic, to Heiji, as Kazuha moved to grab one of the futons. "It's a little late, or I could have gotten you some of Shinichi's… his house isn't that far."

"It's fine, Neechan." Heiji said, waving it off and grabbing the offered clothes, probably some of her dad's older sleepwear. "Ya don't haveta bother, these will do." He took the clothes, then eyed Kazuha quizzically. "Why are ya takin a futon, Kazuha? Ya usually just use Neechan's bed also." Well, the one time they had stayed over. Kazuha grinned.

"That's because Conan-kun's staying with us tonight." She said, to the sputter of the two boys in the livingroom. "Ya get to use the other futon."

"But-" Heiji tried to complain. "He-" Her childhood friend sputtered, gesturing to the child, who seemed to be looking back and forth between them. Neither noticed Ran go into her father's room, other futon under her arm. "Ran-chan and I already decided." Kazuha cut him off.

"Why?" Heiji finally managed to articulate. Kazuha briefly considered his question. She had never thought of an answer for that. Plucking Conan-kun off the ground after setting down the futon, she then held him towards herself so he had a harder time squirming out of the hold, but was focused mostly on Heiji.

"I just barely spend time with him, is all, so I want to talk a little before bed." Kazuha said, then grinned. "You hogged him all to yourself today."

Conan-kun's squirming efforts doubled as Ran-chan left her father's room carrying his sleepwear and took the futon Kazuha had set down, taking them both to her room without interrupting the talk at all. She was letting her handle it.

"That doesn't even make sense, Kazuha." Heiji tried to reason, but wasn't really sure how to express it. Kazuha watched for this, then decided to drop the ball so she could gauge the truth to what she and Ran-chan had discussed earlier.

"How come?" She asked, curious. "Why are ya so concerned, anyway?"

"Well, uh… he's a boy?" Heiji said, helplessly. "It's a girl's room?"

"Ya say that like we never slept in tha same room before, Heiji." Kazuha responded, flatly, then rolled her eyes. "He's six. What's he gonna do?"

"Uh…" Heiji seemed to be trying to grasp at something, but was failing. Like he wanted to say something, but couldn't. Conan-kun had long ceased his struggle, and seemed to instead be staring at Heiji. With what look, she could not tell.

"Fine" He finally said, defeated. "But why am I not invited, too?" Heiji asked, crossing his arms with what looked like a pout. Kazuha was sure, if asked, he'd insist it was not. Ran-chan returned then, having deposited the clothes and futon and probably set it up.

"Because you didn't come to the festival with us, of course." Kazuha said. Heiji huffed. "Well, he didn't either!" He pointed at the six year old in her arms in an accusing manner. Ran-chan watched the back and forth with hesitant interest.

"It's not like he could come, Heiji, unless ya suggest he should've come unsupervised. All by himself." She saw his face as he tried to argue but was unable to, and she knew it meant he had arguments, but it was arguments he could not use.

Definitely, something was up if Heiji thought the points were all arguable but didn't press his advantage. He liked winning on those, when he was sure he was right. Something must have not been right with Conan-kun's expression, though, because Ran-chan came to take him off her arms. Kazuha let her have him, instead crossing her arms and looking at Heiji with a big grin.

"Alright, alright." Heiji finally gave in, raising his arms a little. "It's not like I'm okay with it, tho'." With a huff, he grunted about getting changed and headed off to the restroom. Kazuha turned to Ran-chan then, who seemed to be checking Conan-kun's temperature and had set him down.

"I'm okay." She heard him say as Ran-chan pulled away. "Really."

She had to wonder what that was about, but for now, left it alone. Instead, she headed for Ran-chan's room, the room's owner and her charge following after her. The door was closed with a click and, with that, they began preparing for bed. Conan-kun had turned completely to a corner for the most part of it, at least. Quite the gentleman.

Kazuha was, by now, fairly sure that no matter how impossible it seemed to be (people didn't just shrink!), it was undeniable that there were a lot of things off about Edogawa Conan.

Now, she just had to find a way to get him to confess, and so as she observed the child, she found herself spotting a perfect opportunity.

"By the way, Conan-kun…" Kazuha started, making him turn. "Looks like you forgot something here." The boy held a phone in his hand, his own, and was probably about to set it somewhere for the night. Kazuha motioned to Ran-chan then who, sheepishly, brandished her own phone… and another, one identical to Conan-kun's own.

She had never seen someone's expression go from childish neutral to complete horror so fast. It looked like thoughts were crossing his arms a mile a minute, and then, he nervously spoke up while trying to casually set down his phone. "No, no, we see that." Kazuha said as he froze.

"W-what makes you think it's mine?" Conan-kun asked, nervous. "I have mine right here!" And that he did. Ran-chan gave him an apologetic look, then opened her phone, making a call.  
The room fell silent as the identical phone in Ran-chan's hands vibrated and, once the call dropped and the voicemail message came in from the flipphone, Conan-kun looked like a puppet with the strings cut in the very moment he heard the voice.

 _'You have reached Kudou Shinichi. Please leave a message after the beep…'_

His head sagged, and Kazuha took the opportunity to pick him up, setting him down on Ran-chan's bed. It'd be easier to talk face to face, after all. "Well?" She asked, Ran-chan setting the phones aside as they watched Conan-kun fidget, settling themselves at the side of the bed. He seemed to be running through his options or something.

As such, Kazuha decided to just give him an opening, as well as start with her own interests. "Kudou-kun…" She started, hoping they were right and this didn't have some sort of outrageous explanation. "I have some questions that need answerin'."

And then, suddenly, all their questions were answered without any answering. "...What kind of questions?" The tone changed, as well as the posture. It felt almost abnormal, and maybe a little creepy.

That was… a lot easier than she thought it'd be, though, but she felt satisfied with the answer. With that satisfaction, however, came the grim affirmation that, indeed, Heiji had been hiding things from her. Things that now, looking back, should have been obvious. How else would Kudou-kun and Heiji have gotten so close when they barely saw each other? Simply, it was that they did. Hell, he'd often talked about seeing **Kudou-kun** , and it'd turn out to be ' _Conan-kun_ '.

It was still a hard pill to swallow, and something she felt might be the driving force in wanting to drag out as much dirt as possible from the orchestrator of these lies.  
Said orchestrator was currently wearing a matching blush with Ran-chan, actually.

Wait… Heiji. Heiji was outside. Heiji could be wanting to peek in at any given moment, especially with how they had left him. She blinked, then looked around in discomfort, then at Ran-chan, who looked back to her with, what she felt, might be the same realization.  
After all, he was going to be their main subject of conversation.  
They nodded to each other, and Kazuha rose to her feet. Ran-chan could make sure their little friend wouldn't run off, she was sure.

"Wait here, I'll make sure that Heiji ain't listenin' in on us." She left the room, leaving the two Tokyoites to their own devices. Once out, she spotted Heiji as he paced around. He threw her a grouchy look once he noticed she had left the room, but Kazuha just stuck her tongue out in response, deciding to fetch something so he didn't know she was checking to see what he had been up to.  
Water, yes. Kudou had looked mighty pale through the entire exchange, if she ruled out the blushing earlier, and they were gonna have him talk. Might as well get him something to drink.

Heiji looked even grouchier now, tempted to voice his questions, but Kazuha made show to ignore him. The pacing intensified as she walked back to the room, glass of water on hand, and closed the door behind him once she got back in.

"Heiji's just pacin' around like some caged animal or somethin'." She informed the other two as she walked back to the bed, handing the glass of water to Kudou-kun. He took it quietly, and Kazuha then settled herself down. "Guess he ain't thinkin' about sneakin' in on our conversation." She continued, deciding to leave the 'yet' out. It was going to happen, she could feel it in her bones.

Ran-chan let out a sigh of relief, and Kudou-kun had a look like a thought struck him. He probably realized what she was going to ask about just now. He slid away from them, though, settling his back against the wall, and his expression didn't really… match any description of calm, really. In fact, it looked like he was debating on the merits of fainting or something similar. It made her feel guilty, a little, but not entirely. Maybe it was how sad that look seemed on a child-like body.

"You want dirt on Hattori, don't you?" He asked. Kazuha nodded, hands gripping the bed, and leaned forward a little more in interest. Ran-chan, however, seemed to pull back instead. She paid it no mind beyond noticing.

"Am I allowed to keep the last shred of dignity I have in return?" Kudou-kun continued to ask, and it made Kazuha bristle.  
"What's that supposed ta mean, Kudou-kun?" She tried not to be too loud, but she WAS angry, so it came out as more of a hiss. It wasn't like they were going to be that mean to him, who did he take them for? She felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned to see Ran-chan shaking her head at her.

… Right, she had to calm down a little, here. "Don't worry, Shinichi, we won't force you to do anything you don't want." Ran-chan assured, and soon after, Kudou-kun's posture relaxed a little, as did Ran-chan's own. Oh well, there went the plans to look at cute kiddy clothes if he wasn't agreeable. She pouted, but decided she might as well agree so, with a nod, she leaned forward and towards their brand new informat.

"So… whatcha talk about at Poirot, Kudou-kun?" She was real curious now, especially considering they were there a while, alone. Well, sorta, since there were other customers. "Ran-chan here said it was a love prediction that Heiji wanted to bring me to the festival. Is that true?" Kazuha wanted to know if her friend was right or not but, most of all, she wanted to know if Kudou-kun here knew why, exactly, Heiji had brought her to the festival. Well, even if he didn't actually go in the end.

Both people present flushed, and she had a pretty good idea of why the air was so awkward here. Ran-chan hadn't confessed back yet, had she? Last time they met as themselves was in London… she was sure there was a lot unresolved there that was manifesting now. It was kind of funny. Kudou-kun snickered a little and relaxed, letting out a dramatic sigh.

 _Here it comes_ , she was sure. "Normally… I wouldn't say much and call it a day. But considering that Hattori keeps barging in uninvited and spilling my name all the time…" He paused, and she recalled a couple of incidents in which she actually heard Heiji yell out his actual last name. Huh. "I don't see why not." Kudou-kun completed, and Kazuha clasped her hands together eagerly. She leaned forward even more so, and Ran-chan followed suit.

"So…?" She asked, eyes glinting in her want for some of this info. Kudou-kun shifted closer to them, lowering his voice more so as he spoke. "He brought you here to try and confess."

Any and all thoughts suddenly left her as her jaw dropped. "Really?!" She squeaked out. "I told you!" Ran exclaimed in return, and she felt so much blood rush to her head that she was dizzy. Holy shit… holy shit, it was true. While she had every right to doubt Kudou-kun's word, at the moment she felt she should not. It sounded genuine enough - she hoped it was true.

"Shhhh." Kudou-kun pressed his index finger to his lips, and it immediately snapped her out of it before she started to do something dumb. Like yell. She turned to the miniaturized detective once more, as did her friend.

"I really don't know what he's waiting around for." Kudou-kun continued, shifting to a slightly odd posture. She wasn't sure what he intended by it, but he felt Ran-chan tense up a little. "I don't agree with him denying what happened on the bridge, there's no reason to lie." He continued, but it sounded wrong to her.  
How dare he?

How dare he talk about lying when-  
Wait.

Her skeptical, and slightly angered, look shifted as she processed his words. God, she could even feel the blush creeping up from her neck. Oh no. Ooooh no. He really did say that on the bridge. Right? She had to know.

She pressed on, not at all minding how his posture had shifted from that odd one to a slightly more conservative one. Kazuha absolutely had to know.

"How do ya know about the bridge? Did Heiji tell ya?" While Kazuha tried to keep her voice down, she was unable to help the urgency in her tone. It wasn't a question about the confession in itself, but the contents and what happened. She had to know if he learned about it from when she told Ran-chan, or if Heiji had told him about it beforehand. Kudou-kun shook his head, but didn't speak. "Then?" Kazuha managed to stop herself when Kudou-kun raised his hand for her to stop, doing as silently requested, even if she was still eager, she still wanted to know.

It was killing her, the longer he took to respond. It was also casting small shadows of doubt. Was he making up a story? It was hard to trust Kudou-kun, knowing about… this.

And when he finally explained himself, it all made sense. Heiji's behaviour, his protective outburst, his words… not to mention the fact that there were witnesses to his words. Not just Kudou-kun, but the kids he sometimes spent time with, those detective boys. And… he had lied to her! About what happened!

A part of her was excited, but the rest of her was furious! Why not just admit it? She did not understand, and right now the first thing she wanted to do was slap her childhood friend, then grill him on why the hell he lied. If she meant that much to him, why did he lie?

A small voice interrupted her thoughts. "A-ahah… Kazuha… -san…" The hesitation in his voice made her realize that she probably looked like she was about to kill a man. Kazuha took a deep breath, but was unable to calm herself. "I think it'd be unwise to confront him about it now, anyway…" He trailed off, which was honestly wise. She was this close to redirecting her anger.

What removed the red fog of rage, however, was Ran-chan, who snapped her out of it as she was grabbed by the shoulders. "Kazuha-chan! Hang in there." Ran-chan was always so encouraging… Kazuha sighed, then sighed, glancing between Ran-chan and Kudou-kun. "Lets just talk for now, okay?" Ran-chan's voice was calming, it always had been.

"I still really wanna punch that guy…" Kazuha grumbled, just about to just rub her temples in frustration. She really, really did. Hell… part of her wanted to punch Heiji's little friend here. The little sigh he let out turned her attention back to him, and he rightly ducked his head.

"Ya wouldn't have happened ta have encouraged this lyin', did ya?" Kazuha finally expressed her doubts of his word, squinting as she observed that dirty little liar-

"I already said I didn't approve!" The outburst had her reeling backwards, even if it wasn't loud. She could hear the offense in every word. "I didn't even know he denied it until after the fact!" Even if there was an attempt to mute the anger at her accusations, Kazuha could tell. She didn't really understand.

"What do you think I do, lie for fun?! He's not the one in hiding for surviving a poisoning-" Kudou-kun froze, covered his mouth with his hands and turned away, a sickly pale look on his face, expression showing untold horrors. And she finally understood.

Kazuha had been wrong. She knew that now, as the room fell into an eerie silence, and as she digested the implications of his word. In fact, Ran-chan had been right, as she would have been… after all, she knew him best. Kudou-kun, it seemed, would only lie if he had to. It was still hard to believe, but…

"I-..." She tried to start, but couldn't find the words in herself. Sure taught her about making assumptions without all the evidence. Not that she didn't know already, she just felt she had… gotten carried away. Sure, she was still mad she and Ran-chan were lied to, especially Ran-chan, but assuming the worst was still kind of uncalled for.

Kazuha saw her friend try to reach out, something she had been tempted to do herself. "Shi-Shinichi…", but she stopped as Kudou-kun moved away, back once more pressed against the wall, shaking his head. He didn't seem alright.

"We're not talking about this." Kudou-kun's tone bordered on paranoia, in Kazuha's humble opinion. "Not here, not when I found two bugs around the house this morning." Well… for a good reason.  
She had no idea it was this bad.

"I'm sorry, Kudou-kun." Regardless of the feeling of betrayal still in her chest, which was starting to fade towards, at least, the detective on the bed, she felt he owed him an apology. "I assumed tha worst of ya without askin' ya."

Tension filled the room, and Kazuha found herself unable to look up. In such a short span of time, her perspective had been shifted monumentally three times, in different ways, and she felt she wasn't even done recovering. Kudou-kun's identity, Heiji's bridge incident and the severity of a mysterious problem had been all made known to her within the very same day.

That had been way too many upheavals for a lifetime.

Kudou-kun exhaled, it felt like the room got a little lighter.

"It's… fine. You didn't know." Kazuha felt it was not fine, but as she observed Kudou-kun shift his position to stare at the ceiling, she figured it'd be the best she was going to get. "You weren't supposed to." He added, and it hurt. In spite of the guilty tone, knowing that hurt. Kazuha held her tongue. "I didn't want to involve anyone into my problems, but I just keep getting blackmailed into burdening people with them, huh?"

That meant that Heiji also… had somehow wrung it out of Kudou-kun? Was it fair to force the truth out of someone this way, even if they deserved to know? Kazuha wasn't sure, but it sure didn't stop her from feeling bad about it, right or not.

"I wanted to tell you when it was safe, on my own terms. I'm sorry, Ran. Kazuha-san." Kazuha sighed softly as Kudou-kun continued to speak, it left her with plenty to think about. "But now you're both involved, so…"

Kazuha blinked, turning back to him as she waited for him to finish. "I promise I'll tell you what I can, just not here. Not tonight. Please don't ask until then. Please keep pretending I'm not me when we leave this room."

His hands were shaking, she could notice, especially because he still held onto that glass of water. She had seen enough victims of crimes to know he was probably anxious, or something along those lines.

"Of course." Ran-chan spoke, then motioned for Kudou-kun to come closer. He did, albeit tentatively, and set the glass of water down. Unable to find words, Kazuha nervously ran a hand through her hair, tugging at her ribbon out of habit. She almost unraveled it, when Ran suddenly snatched Kudou-kun off the bed now that his hands were free, setting him on her lap. The look on his face was hilarious, and the unexpected act made it more so, so Kazuha burst out laughing.

"I hope askin' about what I wanted ta know is still okay, then." Kazuha was simultaneously trying to clear the air, while also put out her request again. Well, Kudou-kun had already started to tell them, and perhaps he had said enough, but it'd be nice to hear a little more.  
Especially now that she knew he had lied about the bridge thing. For some reason. "I'm countin' on ya, Kudou-kun."

"A-a-ah… y-yes." The poor guy looked like a cat caught off guard in an embrace, making Kazuha wonder if the guy had been one in his previous life. It took a lot of self restraint to not ruffle his hair, honestly.  
She was relieved that he agreed, though, it felt he might not and, honestly, Kazuha would have respected that. They had tugged more than enough in the wrong direction, after all.

Ran-chan finally let him escape back onto the bed, and as Kudou-kun fixed his clothes and scooted to the edge of the bed with a huff, Kazuha felt some anticipation building.

"You want dirt on Hattori? Where do I even start?"

* * *

Shinichi-kun wasn't all that bad a guy, really. It was what she had come to learn the more they talked. It was something she had come to accept the moment she changed how she referred to him. In all honesty, she could see why Heiji took a shine to him, other than the whole rivalry thing he seemed to like to push around sometimes.

Shinichi-kun also happened to be the around as teasable as a maiden. Even just complimenting him on being considerate ended with extremely hilarious results. He made it too easy. "So, Shinichi-kun." Kazuha started as she helped Ran set away the small table they had used and prepared to grab the dishes. Shinichi-kun carried what he had used himself, waiting on them to finish so they could exit together and wash the dishes. "Who was yer first love, anyway?" She asked, casually, and in response he suddenly sputtered and almost dropped the objects on hand.

"No." He answered simply once he collected himself, even as his cheeks tinted red. He wasn't giving these two more ammo, it seemed, but Kazuha had her fill with just making him lose his balance. She snickered a little as Ran-chan flushed. It seemed she wanted to know as well.

"No." Shinichi-kun repeated as Ran-chan started looking at him with pleading eyes. He skittered out of the room when Ran-chan opened the door, but both were right behind him.

"Come on, Conan-kun~" Kazuha continued (minding the names), and headed after him to the kitchen, where he busied himself washing the dishes. Looks like he was pretending not to listen. "Just a hint." The washing got a little more fastidious, and it made Kazuha laugh a little too hard. She had to remind herself to keep a steady hold on her cup. Ran-chan stood at the exit, shuffling her feet. Kazuha wasn't sure why.

Until Shinichi-kun finished, then tried to flee the questioning via the door, only to run into that particular wall. He huffed and crossed his arms, turning away. It made him look like an actual six year old. Kazuha laughed, then washed her dishes quickly, if only to scoop up the potential escapee so Ran-chan could do the same. The detective protested in her arms, but otherwise made no attempt to flee her hold. Good, he was learning.

"Maybe it's just his mom, she's very pretty, you know." Ran-chan said as she washed the dishes, and Kazuha could feel the growl that came from Shinichi-kun's throat at that. She wasn't sure how to take it.

"Is that a yes or a no?" She asked, blinking, when Shinichi-kun huffed. Ran-chan finished her dishes then.

"You're only getting an answer to that if you tell me yours." He said, a bit of mischief in his eyes. "We're all sharing here."

Kazuha succinctly dropped him, and he'd have fallen on his rump if Ran-chan hadn't been quick enough with her reflexes, catching him halfway down to set him on the floor correctly. He sighed of relief, and Kazuha chuckled nervously. She hadn't meant to!

"Sorry, Conan-kun! That was an accident..." Kazuha was sincere, at least, and Shinichi-kun merely shrugged. "It's okay." He said, then sighed and looked around.

"Looks like Hattori actually went to bed, though." He noted out loud. "He didn't even come out for this." He kept his voice low, however, as he was using terms Conan-kun should not be using.

"Mmm… I thought he'd be here all night." Kazuha said as she thought about it. Really, she figured he would be unable to sleep. Maybe he was tired? It made her a little worried about him, but sleep was better than no sleep. "I'd check, but I don't wanna wake him or Ran-chan's dad up." She really didn't.

"Uncle sleeps like a rock." Shinichi-kun piped up, and Ran-chan sighed.  
"I guess I inherited it from him." She commented, seemingly a bit bothered about it. Kazuha raised a brow, especially as Shinichi-kun gave her leg a sympathetic pat.

"Am I missin' somethin'?" Kazuha asked, but Ran-chan motioned for them to go to her room. She nodded, heading there with Shinichi-kun at their heels. It was only once the door closed that Ran-chan elaborated.

"I almost slept through an attempted murder at myself, that's what happened." She said, looking a little worried, then peeking down at their pint-sized friend. "Shinichi managed to distract the guy until I woke up." And Ran-chan reached down to ruffle his hair. Shinichi-kun huffed, but otherwise looked proud of himself. "I think I might have died otherwise."

Kazuha was shocked, a cold feeling settling in her stomach. "Wow." She said, shaken from hearing about it. It must have felt worse for Ran-chan then. "You guys really do get in a lot of dangerous cases, huh?" She said as she walked over to settle down on the futon. She had to sit down.

"Well, you've gotten that yourself." Shinichi-kun brought up, a little concerned. "It can get dangerous when people are willing to hurt just about anyone to get away with their crime…" He trailed off, then shook his head. "I'm glad all of us are alright. For the most part."

Kazuha chuckled at that. "Well… that's true." She said, sighing a little. "Guess so… altho' I reckon the one who gets hurt the most in this house is Heiji."

Ran-chan settled herself as well, on the chair near her desk, and Shinichi-kun seemed to be considering where to sit. "You're right." Ran-chan said. "He's gotten some of the worst of it." She noted, thinking a little. Kazuha wondered what she was thinking about.

"I remembered just now when someone drugged some coffee…" Shinichi-kun interrupted, and Ran-chan blinked. "Ah... yes, I remember that now." She mentioned, then shook her head. "It's kind of hard to not keep an eye on drinks at all times after that."

"What happened?" Kazuha asked, already dreading the answer as Ran-chan shuddered. "Untargetted attempted drowning." Shinichi-kun answered for her, and Ran-chan's brows knit a little more as Shinichi-kun headed her way, placing a hand on her knee. It seemed to help a little. "Could have been any of us, but…"

"It was Ran-chan?" Kazuha completed. Two nods answered that. Yikes.

"It was kind of terrifying, being semi aware but unable to move or do anything about it." Ran-chan added, shaking her head. "Mn… I can relate." Shinichi-kun added, causing both her and Ran-chan to stare in surprise. He raised his hands at that, laughing nervously.

"Uh. Poisoning." Shinichi-kun tried to answer with simply that, and Kazuha realized it meant he didn't want them to press anymore. Ran-chan seemed to be having a harder time accepting it. It must be, considering how terrifying the concept sounded to her. "Anyway." He continued, seemingly unsure of what to do with his hands. Probably out of not having pockets to stash them in, she had seen him do that plenty of times. He started to pace.

"Let's move away from this morbid topic. If we keep it up we won't sleep at night."

"Well, yeah, I don't wanna have nightmares." Kazuha agreed. How did the talk even get here, again? Something about sleeping.

"Instead, uh, how about you two tell me how school is going? Kiddie school isn't exactly the most entertaining thing in the world." Shinichi-kun took a seat on the bed, and now they were all settled.

"It can't be that borin'. Ya should tell us some about it, too." Kazuha insisted, grinning a little and leaning against the bed. "We're all sharing here~" She quoted him, and he sighed and huffed. Ran-chan laughed.

* * *

"If you keep flipping sayings around like that, you'll start sounding as old as the Professor." Shinichi-kun warned with a laugh, then yawned. Kazuha stuck her tongue out.

"Kazuha does as she pleases." She said, then laughed a little. "It's a little silly, talking like that. Takes me back to my earlier years." Ran-chan nodded.

"Yeah… I used to do that too, when I was a kid." Ran-chan giggled. "A real one."

"Hey!" Pipped the smallest one in the room from the pillow nest, then yawned. That was the fifth time, Kazuha noted to herself. It probably had to do with having the body of a child. Must suck.

"Ya want us ta call ya a real kid, Shinichi-kun?" Kazuha asked, grinning widely when he rolled his eyes. "That's what I thought." Ran-chan gave him a sympathetic pat on the head, seated next to the pillow nest, but not exactly on it.

All three were somewhere on the futon spread on the floor, it was getting a little late into the night, but Kazuha didn't mind. She was having a good time, and hoped that they'd be able to do this again sometime. Next time, perhaps, with Heiji as well. She sort of hated excluding him when it was just for fun, but previous topics called for it.

Besides, she was still a little petty about him lying to her, it was her biggest issue now, as most with Shinichi-kun had been dealt with (other than the fact that she had no idea what was going on).

"Anyway." Shinichi-kun spoke up. "When I was an actual child, I don't think I saw the sun until I was four."

Ran-chan giggled. "I can vouch for it, he was a little angry gremlin when we first met." She grinned widely at that, poking Shinichi-kun's cheek, who groaned and just let her do it. He let her get away with a lot, actually. Kazuha was sure he'd swat at her instead.

"I was just nervous. Except when I headbutted that guy. And yelled at the teacher. I was just mad." Shinichi-kun said, stretching and yawning again. That shit was contagious: she found herself yawning as well.

"Angry toddler." Ran-chan said with a snicker.

"Was he tha smallest also?" Kazuha asked with a laugh, Ran-chan nodded.

"Kind of. We were around the same height then, but I was taller for the most part." She paused. "Then he suddenly grew like a beanstalk." Shinichi-kun laughed.

"Must've been weird when ya turned into a kid." Kazuha noted, thinking about it now. "Ya were pretty much Heiji's height last time… it's a big difference."

"It is. It throws me off every time." Shinichi-kun admitted. "And you start reaching for stuff but miscalculate… bump into stuff you think you won't bump into… it's one hell of a growth spurt and back."

"Is that why you fell off the stairs that one time?" Ran-chan asked, worried. Wait, when did that happen?

"Nah, I was just in pain and couldn't tell where I was going." Shinichi-kun waved his hand, something she had grown to tell meant 'let us move on', as had Ran-chan. It probably involved details he wasn't ready to share.

"Is it okay to ask when that was?" Kazuha asked, blinking. "I hadn't heard about that."

"Ah!" Ran-chan exclaimed, then placed a hand on her mouth, trying not to laugh for some reason. "It's when Hattori-kun first came to see us." Shinichi-kun's laugh was borderline sarcastic.

"He's just bitter because Hattori-kun tossed him around." Ran-chan added, and Shinichi-kun shorted and turned way. "Well, and Shinichi was sick at the time… so it probably added onto it…" She seemed to want to say more, ask more, but decided not to. Kazuha figured it had to do with just why 'Shinichi' had been there afterwards.

So many questions.

"At least he doesn't do that now, right?" Kazuha added, grinning a little. "Sometimes." Shinichi-kun corrected, yawning again.

"Oh yeah… sometimes he just carries Shinichi off to do things." Ran-chan seemed thoughtful at that. "Like a sack of potatoes, right?" Kazuha added, snickering as she remembered said times. It was funnier when you knew 'Conan-kun' was actually the same age as Heiji, and he was aware of the fact.

It still served to remind her he knew first, though. Dang. "Bet ya don't like that, do ya, Shinichi-kun?" Kazuha asked, only to blink and look at the pillow pile.  
… He fell asleep.

Ran-chan smiled gently, then shook her head. "I guess all the activity got to him." She said, gently lifting his arm, then setting it down. She blinked in surprise. "And he's really out of it."

"Normally a light sleeper?" Kazuha asked, blinking a bit while tilting her head. Ran-chan nodded.

"Much too light if you ask me… it's gotten worse and worse." Her friend looked worried, bothered, and Kazuha could figure as to why. They didn't know exactly what happened to Shinichi-kun, just that he was poisoned, and his constant reason for being out was 'on a case'. If he meant the case of the people who tried to poison him that he was hiding from…

It had worrying implications, but of what she wasn't sure. "He's fine right now, at least." She scooted closer to Ran-chan, ruffling the hair on her head affectionately. "Ya have so much on yer hands, Ran-chan… I don't envy you."

Ran-chan smiled at that, then laughed, fixing her hair. "At least he does what he can to alleviate the burden, it's all I could ask for." She raised a hand and ruffled Shinichi-kun's hair with it. He didn't even stir. "When I look back it makes me remember all the times he's tried to look after me, it makes me feel better. Even if it's still… hard, you know."

Kazuha nodded, she was already still angry at Heiji for lying to her, she couldn't imagine how Ran-chan must feel like, being lied to by her significant other and all. Even if they weren't really official yet, as far as she knew.

Even if it was, as far as it seemed, for a very scary reason.

"I get it, Ran-chan. Not really, ya know, get it get it, as in how you feel, but… I get that it must be hard. I'm kinda mad at Heiji for lyin' as well… but I'm not tha one that had to live with tha lyin' all tha time." Reaching out, she clasped Ran-chan's free hand, smiling a little. Ran-chan smiled back in return, albeit a bit weakly.

"I hope he tells me… why he tried so hard to keep me out of it. Really, it was so difficult before… it makes me wonder why he gave up so easily this time." Ran-chan eyed the sleeping one in the room, then back to her.

"Maybe our evidence was so good, he gave up." Kazuha offered, even if it felt a little weak. There had to be a reason… they'd wring it out of him.

Ran-chan, however, merely laughed, then picked him up. Shinichi-kun didn't react. "Let's go lay down ourselves." She started, then flushed a little, but with a small grin on his face. "We never did get to do that river formation, right?"

Kazuha laughed at that. "We didn't, did we?" She asked, then helped Ran-chan tidy up once she set Shinichi-kun down on her bed. Pillows reorganized, futon rolled up, and they were laying on the bed, unconscious detective between them.

"Tiny friends aside," Ran-chan started, stretching a little herself. "How have things gone in Osaka, Kazuha-chan? Do you know if he tried to confess there?" Kazuha raised a brow, then tilted her head.

"What do you mean?" She asked, a little bewildered. Ran-chan blinked once, then twice.

"Aah, you didn't figure it out…" Ran-chan said, then shrugged a little. "I overheard him, when we went to that mansion for the Nue case. Wanted to make sure the sunrise was even better than the sight of London's Big Ben."

And realization dawned upon Kazuha… for the nth time in those last twenty four hours.

"W-wait, wha-?!" Ran-chan covered her mouth before her scream got too loud (in retrospect, probably so everyone else in the house didn't wake up), but she was laughing too. Little-

"Looks like I have to tell you more from where Shinichi left off, then. There's some ground to cover."

Kazuha thought the ride was over, but it had just begun.

* * *

While Heiji's face had been worth it and all for keeping an important detail of what happened from him until the end, Kazuha was still angry at him. Even as they returned to Osaka, the tensions rose.

It wasn't just the lie about Shinichi-kun's situation, but the whole bridge thing too. Failed confessions she could deal with, they weren't really his fault, but the one he succeeded in and took back?

She didn't even care that it was in a usual place and not some fancy ass one! It didn't matter! But Heiji was Heiji, and he liked to compete.

It just served to make her angrier. Why try to compete with an accidental confession that Ran-chan kind of forgot to respond to? It just happened to be in London, she wouldn't even care if he confessed in the backyard of his house!

It was so irritating that she almost avoided talking to the guy, but it ended up being unavoidable. After all, he was a member of the LINE chat, not to mention she saw him every day. It was kind of hard to ignore.

And, at times, it made her feel a little selfish. Foolish as it was, she had Heiji at arms length, reachable at any time, while Ran-chan couldn't even see Shinichi-kun. And now that she had been given closure as to where he was, it wasn't like it'd help matters. He was like… up to her waist right now.

And god was that short stuff trying, for all he had going against him. Unlike Heiji here, who seemed to not care about what he actually had and could make use of. She knew it was comparing apples to oranges, but she couldn't help but remember their situation and feel bad. Both by her wanting to avoid her childhood friend, and Heiji wasting time for that 'perfect moment'. It was sweet of him to try, really, but… she really wished he hadn't up and denied what he said in Ebizu. Maybe they'd be dating by now. Or something. She sighed, on their way back to Tokyo again with her childhood friend.

The tension was killing her, really, but she felt if she gave in and gave Heiji attention, he'd have won… at something. Yeah. It wasn't pettiness, not really, but she felt she ought to not have to apologize to Heiji, when he had been the one to keep secrets all this time.

"We're goin' so ya hear everythin', right?" Heiji suddenly spoke up, causing Kazuha to look up. What? She nodded in response, a little tense.

"Yeah." Kazuha answered tersely.

"So… I'll save apologizin' to ya 'till that's over. Since I kept ya in tha dark and all." Heiji made a point to not look at her as he said this, stuffing his hands in his pockets and trying to act cool.

"Heiji…" So he had noticed… she was so glad-

And then the train stopped for Tokyo, throwing Heiji off balance. He almost fell flat on his face, and Kazuha snickered.  
She supposed things were picking up.

* * *

The Kudou house was very big, was her first impression. Shinichi-kun looked very small inside of it, was the second.

He greeted them at the door, and she couldn't felt but feel awkward and tense, all this wasn't helping her nerves, plus how things had been between her and Heiji through the time they waited for Shinichi-kun to have a time and location. It had felt like forever.

It was nice of him to make tea, and she had moved after Ran-chan to help get it, but Shinichi-kun asked them to wait.  
It sounded desperate, almost, and it confused her, looking back and forth between Ran-chan and Shinichi-kun. Still, he repeated himself, so they did as asked and, since their host had gone off to fetch their tea, it was Ran-chan who lead them through the house and to the study. The rather massive study… library… thing.

"This house is massive!" Kazuha exclaimed as she looked around. "Ya sure ya wouldn't get lost here?"

"I used to." Ran-chan said with a laugh. "Way back when we were kids. I know it like the back of my hand now." Of course… they grew up together. She supposed it was similar to her with Heiji's house. The Hattori estate was massive!

"It's so western… it's kinda funny." Heiji snorted. "West an' East… with opposite house styles. Almost comedic, if ya ask me." Ran-chan tried to hold in a laugh by placing a hand to her mouth, but it wasn't working out so well.

They settled down, Heiji and herself on one sofa, Ran-chan on the other by herself. Heiji had argued for sitting where Shinichi-kun would, since he already knew everything and all, but Kazuha insisted it was the better arrangement. She mostly wanted Heiji nearby in case she wanted to punch his arm or something.

And then the tea came.

It was all fun and games until Shinichi-kun admitted he could not serve the tea and, really, even she felt that pang of pain and pity - pity she was sure he'd rather not have directed towards him. Kazuha had to force herself to look away, instead taking her cup and having a sip.

It was pretty good, actually. "It's a very nice tea set." She complimented. It looked kind of expensive… she supposed his parents had a thing for that, which wasn't a stretch, really. The whole house just displayed that style in full. "An' the tea is good. I had my doubts, Shinichi-kun…"

Well, considering how she'd seen him cut things… she was certain he was about as distracted as Heiji in the kitchen. It got a snort out of Shinichi-kun, at least. Tension lessened in the room, and Kazuha breathed a sigh of relief…

Off to a rocky start.

* * *

As they left the household for lunch, Kazuha mulled over what she had learned when inside the house.

First of all, Kudou Shinichi had gotten himself into very deep shit.

Second, he was not infallible, as bright as he was, and even he admitted to it when he realized he had made an oversight.

And finally, they had not been told the truth entire, and Shinichi-kun had even said things he had not planned to reveal. It didn't hurt as much as she thought it would, considering how hard he tried to be honest. In fact, all the things he tried to skip over and be vague about… were secrets that didn't belong to him or he himself didn't know much about. From what she understood, anyway.

It was kind of cute, though, how Ran-chan took him by the hand while walking outside. It didn't take her long to whisper this to Heiji, who walked next to her now that some of their tension had been alleviated by their earlier scuffles. She certainly felt much better after letting it out.

He whispered back to her, snickering. "Makes ya want to think back on tha times ya thought he was a kid and Neechan treated him as such." He whispered back, snickering. Kazuha was awfully tempted.

"I think I'll end up trippin' on somethin' if I think about it, I'd be laughin' too hard ta notice." She replied. They both snickered again.

Shinichi-kun's head hung a little lower, and his ears were turning pink. It served to make her laugh a little harder.

"Ah, Conan-kun… are you alright? Should I carry you instead?" Ran-chan asked Shinichi-kun, and Kazuha couldn't help but hoot in laughter, her childhood friend not that well off either. This was rich, really.

Shinichi-kun responded something or other, then promptly stuffed his hands in his pockets and seemingly sulked. Kazuha turned to raise a brow to Heiji, who shrugged, but kept his distance instead of approaching. She sped her pace to catch up, managing to do so when Shinichi-kun lifted his head, reaching down to ruffle his hair.

"Yer so cute, Ku-Conan-kun!" She grinned at him, and he laughed sarcastically in turn, rolling his eyes. Right. She had to think of him as Conan-kun outside of closed spaces-

"I'll never know why I let all those slipups go past." Ran-chan seemed to be complaining about something, but it took Kazuha a bit to connect the dots, but when she did-

"Ran-chan! 'm not like that oaf!" She wasn't! No way! Kazuha had only made the mistake because she was getting used to this, was all!

"Whatcha say 'bout me, Kazuha?!" Heiji piped up as he caught up, looking offended while crossing his arms. She barely saw Conan-kun at the corner of her eye escape to the safety of Ran-chan's other side.

"Ya heard me, ya BIG OAF!" Kazuha jabbed at him in response, aiming for his torso. It was pretty mild, though… she didn't want to even blow the air outta him. After all, it was in jest, somewhat.  
She still wasn't that bad. Kazuha would do her best to keep the name mistakes down to one time! Maybe even zero! This didn't even count! No one else was around, and all.

Heiji didn't even reel, huffing in complaint. "I haven't even messed up that much!" He turned to look at Conan-kun, who seemed to only be missing popcorn. "Right?!"

She could feel the lack of care from the posture Conan-kun took after as he responded to Heiji. "I can count five I remember…" He said, trailed off, then continued. "You tell me if that's good or bad."

It was plenty bad, Kazuha wanted to add, but Ran-chan then pointed out they had arrived. She huffed, admitting a silent truce, and Heiji did the same.

… That was some slogan, for a Ramen shop.

* * *

The good news was, the food was great. The bad news was, she felt it was all too soon to put the 'don't spill anything' to practice as Sera-chan joined them. It was fun, though, despite Conan-kun talking about… things…

She wasn't even sure if he meant just as a joke about Heiji running off or something a little more… adult. While it was tempting to ask, you just didn't do that in public, especially towards a child. This was his plan, she was sure.

She was tempted to cross her arms and huff, but since they had finished the Ramen and were just waiting on Sera-chan's take-out order, she might as well not. Oh, wait, what were they talking about?

"Wish I could have been there to kick some zombie butt!" Sera-chan exclaimed, raising her fists as if ready for battle. Ran-chan laughed a little, shaking her head. "They were just trying out for extras, Sera-chan…" She said, then trailed off.

"Hattori-kun got to chop of the head of one, though!" Sera-chan complained again, and Conan-kun sighed and rubbed his temples. Heiji puffed his chest. "It was a fake head he had made, tho'." He reminded her. "Only one of us would have gotten a shot at it, right, girl detective?"

The two looked at each other. They grinned.

Conan-kun's head hit the table with a groan as Ran-chan patted him in sympathy. Kazuha joined in.

"Here's your takeout, Mari-chan!" The owner of the shop said as Sera-chan sighed and took the takeout. Kazuha didn't know what exactly was up with that nickname, but it seemed the staff of the restaurant wasn't letting it go. "Thanks!" She said, regardless, and stood.

"Well, where are you guys headed now?" Sera-chan asked as Conan-kun slid off the stool, herself and Heji standing as well, followed by Ran-chan.

"We were goin' ta get some ice cream before we left." Kazuha said, deciding that it wouldn't hurt to invite her to come. Sera-chan was fun to talk to, regardless of, well, their tiny problem hovering around. It was a test, a test! She just had to not slip up. "Wanna come?"

"Sounds like fun, count me in!" Sera-chan seemed fairly enthusiastic. "I wanna hear more about you guys' adventures and stuff anyway, it all sounds pretty wild." Heiji barked out a laugh, and Kazuha wasn't able to keep from sniggering. She was right, really.

Ran-chan immediately worried, but for a reason that was completely different from what Kazuha thought it'd be. "What about your food, Sera-chan? Won't it go cold on your way home?"

"It's fine, I was gonna put it in the fridge, anyway, so it makes me wait less to do it and stuff." Sera-chan waved off the concern, grinning. "Let's go?"

And off they went, waving goodbye to the rather nice Ramen-ya staff. She'd definitely swing by again, the food was great!

* * *

The interaction left Kazuha mentally kicking herself when she almost revealed Shinichi-kun had been physically present when Heiji first met him and Ran-chan, even after it was over and after she had been told it was all good. Like some acid in her stomach, or something weighing on her - the uncomfortable feeling wasn't leaving, even as she dragged Heiji to the station, with him complaining a storm all the way.

"Why can't ya just tell me-" Heiji continued, only to pause, staring at her face.

"... Ya ok, Kazuha?" He asked, concerned, and she figured it actually showed on her face now or something. Kazuha sighed, rubbing her temples, then shook her head, not trusting herself to blurt stuff out without saying too much to a bunch of total strangers. "Let's get the tickets first." She said, instead, and he understood. Together, they got their purchase, then headed off to wait for the train.

"What's on yer mind?" Heiji asked her once they were finally on the train, after an awkward silence between them on the wait. It had probably been less than half an hour, but Kazuha had felt it was an eternity, so her internal clock might have not been so reliable.

"I just feel pretty bad about almost messin' up." Kazuha admitted, knowing it sounded kinda silly. It wasn't like she had actually messed up that badly. She still wasn't sure just how Shinichi-kun had gotten his normal body back, but he mentioned he'd just tell them later.

"It's alright, Kazuha." Heiji said, looking around suspiciously. Probably to make sure no one was listening in on them, even if they were being vague. "We patched it up real nice, we just gotta make sure no one else knows about that, yeah?"

Because implying Shinichi-kun was alive would probably get a lot of people in trouble if the wrong person heard. Kazuha gulped, wondering just how Shinichi-kun was able to live with that paranoia for so long. She didn't even live in Tokyo and **she** felt like jumping at shadows.

"Yer right, Heiji… it just feels like I could've done better, ya know?" Kazuha tugged at her ribbon, then sighed, shaking her head. "So much fer not bein' as bad as ya." It was a bad attempt at a joke, but it was there.

Heiji scoffed, laughing it off and ruffling her hair. "Hey!" Kazuha squawked, trying to fix it after. "Don'tcha worry, by tha next month we'll be even in points, then ya can start countin'"

"Why, ya lil-"

Heiji laughed, dodging her half-hearted punch. "That's more like it, Kazuha." He praised with a twinkle in his eye. "Don'tcha go all droopy faced on me now, that's Conan-kun's job, ya know?"

Kazuha grinned a little, feeling a little better that Heiji had managed to not accidentally stumble in such a large crowd. "I guess so." She said. For all of Shinichi-kun's merits and brains, the guy could be a little sad and withdrawn sometimes.

They looked at each other, then broke into a grin.

It'll be fine.


	6. Intermission III

Before this had started, if you had told Ran that Shinichi was a good liar, she'd have probably laughed until her stomach hurt. Hell, looking back to the start of Conan-kun's stay, his real identity should have been obvious.  
But, she supposed, the more an actor got into their role, the better they got at playing it.

It was safe to say, unless he was very deep in thought or caught off-guard, Shinichi had become a far better actor than he probably ever wanted to be.

And at those times, regardless of not knowing those reasons, Ran felt it was her job to remind him of the part he was playing. 'You're Conan-kun, right?', because he was supposed to be.

At the very least, Ran had deflected his suspicions that he knew anything thus far, because while she didn't know why he was doing this, and why he was keeping it from her, she knew what would happen if he realized she was onto him. Ran was tired of that song and dance, enough to just not bother looking for evidence anymore to prove it. So long as she was allowed to help him from the sidelines, she was happy.

Besides, he was thoughtful enough to send her messages and call her, as well as send her gifts, in his real name. She supposed she could let it slide, no matter how much it hurt that she was not a confidant at the moment.

All she was sure of, is that it had to be serious - nothing else would make Conan-kun so paranoid that he could sense someone was taking candid pictures of him.

And with this reasoning, she had gone on forward in her daily life, routine, taking comfort in the fact that at least her childhood friend stuck around, despite his little problem.  
Until, that is, Kazuha-chan accidentally set off a series of events that saw them here, waving off both of their guests from Osaka.

Ran quietly closed the door, then headed to the table to seat herself, unsure of what to say now. Conan-kun, ever silent, followed her like a shadow, as he tended to do. To think, she had originally thought of casually returning the phone to him without saying a word somehow, had Kazuha not insisted on intervening.

But now, it left them with this, and without knowing when her father would wake, Ran didn't want to risk starting to talk about things that could be overheard. She did have a huge, nagging question, however, and she clasped her hands together, thinking on how to ask it.

At the very least, she could appreciate that he wasn't running away now. "Can I ask you something?" She started, voice soft, as Conan-kun peered up at her, tilting his head.

"You can." He said, voice uncertain and slightly shaken. Despite how alright he tried to sound ever since the whole thing had begun, she was aware that this seemed to bother him. A lot.

Ran's gaze went from her clasped hands to the door of her father's room, still closed. She lowered her voice. "Why did it work this time?" She asked, and she hoped he understood. All the other times she had tried, every single time without fail, he would find a way to worm his way out of it, one way or another.

"Mm." Conan-kun spoke, glancing in the same direction as she, and seemed to consider her question, a pained expression on his face. He then lowered his head, and she was sure he was feeling something akin to shame. Shinichi was easy to read, if you knew him well enough.

Before he said anything, however, her father came out of the room in yawny glory. Her question, it seemed, would have to wait until they got some privacy. Instead of the relieved sigh she was expecting, an annoyed noise escaped Conan-kun's throat.

"Dad, you're up!" Ran greeted her father, who raised a hand to somewhat wave at her and her companion.

"Mornin', Ran." Her father, spoke, yawning again and rubbing his eyes. "Brat." He greeted Conan-kun after. "... Where are the other two?"

"They left already." Conan-kun chirped, and she had to try her best not to double take. Regardless of her knowing just who it was, that 'mood shift' sure was creepy sometimes. "You just missed them."

Ran nodded, and the ever so sleepy Mouri Kogoro simply looked at them, blinked, then shrugged. "Oh well." He said, stretching. "No breakfast? The dinner was good, by the way."

"I got up late, so I didn't really make any… sorry, dad." Ran apologized, then smiled a little at the compliment. "I'm glad you like it, though. Kazuha-chan and I made it together."

"Is that why there were noodles on the curry?" Dad asked, surprised, peering at them from the kitchen before browsing to see if there was anything else. "Must be an Osaka thing…"

"Something like that…" Ran said, laughing in a slightly nervous manner. Conan-kun peered up at her to raise his eyebrow, but she shook her head. Later.

Her phone vibrated and, retrieving it, she decided to check. Conan-kun wandered off to the window, then peered at his own phone. Hattori-kun must have sent him a message, as she had just gotten one from Kazuha-chan.

Conan-kun, however, just put his phone away, watching out the window. Oh well. She focused on the message she received from Kazuha-chan, grinning a little and walking to the window as well. She shifted so Conan-kun could peer at the messages, typing as well. He took the opportunity to watch as her dad got ready to eat at the table.

'Heiji's so heated, ya should see him sulkin', Ran-chan!' Ran giggled a little, trying to imagine it. She could only envision Hattori-kun pouting of all things, which made her laugh a little more. Conan-kun sniggered a little, himself.

'He must feel a little left out.' Ran reasoned, smiling a little.

'Probably. He keeps lookin' at his phone, too. Guess Conan-kun hasn't responded yet.' Kazuha sent back, and Ran gave the six year old next to her a Look. He shrugged in return, mouthing 'I don't know what to say.' To her. Well. That was new, it seemed Hattori-kun had to wait.

'He hasn't. He said he's not sure how to respond.'

'What did that octopus tell 'im?' Kazuha-chan's curious response was fairly quick. 'I wanna know now!' Another one.

Conan-kun showed it in response, so Ran told Kazuha-chan exactly what it said.

'I'd just tell him to sock it.' Wow, no mercy from Kazuha-chan. Ran giggled, and Conan-kun rolled his eyes, staring at the screen of his phone afterwards.

'I don't think Conan-kun thinks it's a good idea.' Ran added, then set her own input. 'What train did you guys take?'

'Hikari. It's fine, it's not the slowest line.' Back to the casual talk, Ran relaxed as Conan-kun finally responded to Hattori-kun. He then nudged her a little.

"Maybe we should have a group chat." Conan-kun spoke up, turning to watch as her dad left for downstairs after telling them he'd be at the office. They both waved him off. "It'll be easier to talk back and forth without peeking at our phones." He kept the childish tone even after her dad had gone outside, bless him.

"I think it's a good idea. I'll tell Kazuha-chan now."

It wasn't a bad way to spend their mid morning, she supposed, although that question still tugged at the back of her mind.

* * *

She hadn't expected to be dragged that far down a conversation for that long. By the time the chatter stopped, it was because the train had arrived to Osaka. Ran hurried to prepare lunch, Conan-kun scampering underfoot to help. It was as the rice finished cooking that Shinichi spoke up.

"I didn't have any other choice." He said, simply, quietly, as he eyed the door. Ran didn't understand, for a few moments, before she realized he was answering her question.

"What do you mean?" She asked. Surely, he had other options. He could have denied it somehow.

"What do you think I could have said?" Shinichi asked, not unkind, just stressed. _"Ran-neechan, I've been catfishing you this whole time somehow. You never talked to Shinichi-niichan all those times, it was actually just me, pretending to be him."_ He made sure to put on his most childish voice. Ran flinched at the implications. _"Ran-neechan, Shinichi-niichan's phone just magically manifested there when it wasn't when we arrived. You can't prove I had it except for fingerprints. Oh, wait, my fingerprints are identical but smaller than Shinichi-niichan's."_ He continued, then sighed, shaking his head.

"... Sorry." He apologized, taking a breath as he stared at the rice cooker, avoiding to look at her. "Anything and everything I could think of, they would only hurt you somehow. I couldn't just… force you to believe the person you spoke to all that time was a lie. I couldn't just do that to you, not after all this. It was all I could think of, and I refused to do it. That's… that's all."

In simple terms, all solutions he could think of were against his morals. That's what Ran understood from the exchange. He had always wanted their calls and texts on his 'Shinichi phone' to be honest and from him, it's what made it important and special - possibly to both of them.  
So if he tried to deny that… he was right, it'd have hurt her feelings.

It brought her another thought. All this time, she could have… used Shinichi's fingerprints and compared them to Conan-kun's? She should have thought of doing that, but when the thought had come, she had discarded it at the time, thinking he'd just worm his way out of it again somehow.

It left her with mixed feelings, and she decided to voice them. "It feels like I had to wring a steel trap open to get you to tell me the truth…" Ran said, trailing off, and Shinichi's gaze turned to his feet. The rice was ready.

"You were the first person I wanted to tell." Shinichi said, softly. "And you were the last person I wanted to be hurt by my own mistakes. Sadly, those desires conflicted. Among… other things." He stuffed his hands in his pockets, visibly wilting. "Sorry."

She didn't think she'd get much else out of him, and had a lot to think about from his answer. "Thank you, Shinichi." She kneeled, embracing him tightly. "Thank you for trying to be honest with me."  
It meant much more to her than she ever thought it would.

* * *

The previous weeks had felt like torture, mostly to watch her childhood friend visibly wilt like this with guilt. There was not much she could do, having felt a bit conflicted herself. Not to mention, they hardly got time to themselves after the sleepover - there was just so much going on.  
If there was any relief, is that he had stuck to her side and had not avoided her, physically. They hadn't really spoken, outside of the group chat and regular pleasantries to pretend things were fine around others.

She had to hand it to herself, she was getting to be pretty good at acting, too. Even now, filled with dread as she lead Kazuha-chan and Hattori-kun down a very familiar street, she kept a smile on her face and chatting like things were fine.

Finally, she'd learn the truth, but… there was so much apprehension in her body about it too. Every step she took to the mansion that was like a second home to her felt like a journey to which she would have no metaphorical return.

"We're coming up to it now. It'll be your first time going inside, right, Kazuha-chan?" Ran asked, smiling a little as she fondly remembered getting lost in there. Hell, Shinichi got lost once or twice himself, from what his parents had told her.

"It will be… it looks kinda intimidatin'." Kazuha-chan noted, and with that they arrived before its gates, gates that were too tall for a child to reach. She had to help him inside earlier this morning, actually.  
If it didn't make her feel so saddened at the lack of access to his own home, Ran would find it pretty funny.

Discarding the thoughts, she pressed the doorbell. After a bit of waiting, a slightly breathless voice answered the intercom. "Yes?"

"We're here, Conan-kun." Ran announced their arrival, noting Hattori-kun seemed to be eyeing the gates. She didn't know him as well, but something told her he was estimating if he could jump over it.  
Hopefully not.

"Come in." Came the delayed response, and it raised a flag for her. Shinichi sounded just fine, it was mostly the delay. The breathlessness could be accounted for, he could have just been far from the door, the house was certainly big enough, and his legs were pretty short at the moment.

Still, she pushed it aside, then opened the gate, letting her friends inside, and closing it after her, before heading to the door, which was opened by Shinichi with apparent difficulty.  
He was worryingly short, honestly.

Was it even healthy to have to crane your head that much to see other people? And why did she start only noticing now? Still, she signaled for Shinichi to step back when he wasn't… doing anything, so they could go inside. Might just be lost in thought. He took his prompt and did as he was asked, though, so that was fine.

The tea he had been working on sure smelled nice, though. Ran smiled to herself, amused at the small banter around her, then offered to fetch the tea while heading to do so, only to be interrupted with what could only be described as a desperate plea.

"Wait-!"

Something was very wrong.

* * *

There was a strange comfort that came with being able to hold Shinichi in her arms like this, even if a part of it felt overall bad because he is just… he is so small…  
Still, it helped her focus on things that Shinichi had said, facts he had revealed, and how it matched to things she had seen. The pier, the woman she confronted who was not who she said she was…  
Things were beginning to fall into place, and she wasn't liking it, but at the same time, she was. It was a strange position to be in, and combined with the bundle of emotions she felt, it took a lot for her not to cry. Holding him helped, at least. It was a reassurance that, at the very least, he was alive.

Not whole, and certainly not alright, but alive.

Of course, she was still upset with him. His lies, the fact that he hadn't told her, how he had tried so hard to deceive her… even knowing Shinichi's reasons and how much he hated doing it, it was hard for the anger to go away. Ran felt it'd stay for a while, regardless of his earnest apologies. It just… hurt. It hurt a lot.  
But in time, that would go. She had already forgiven him, but that feeling of resentment would take a while to ebb away.

And with this knowledge, came a new emotion she had only felt faintly, but now was hitting her full-force: Fear. Fear for his life, fear for what had become of his real identity. The fear of being overheard, the fear of messing up… so much she had not known before, now hinging on the balance.

Ran had suspected it had to be something terrible for Shinichi to hide himself this way, but she felt she would have never really guessed the scope of the problem. Just how big it was, just how bad it could get.

These thoughts stormed in her, even as she let him go, as she calmed Hattori-kun and Kazuha-chan down, as she bantered and teased Shinichi while they walked to the Ramen-ya. Even through their talks and laughs, it stormed and turned within, and perhaps it was showing with how protective she was acting at certain insinuations, like 'Conan-kun' getting lost. She was trying, though, and it seemed to not be notable enough.

Ran functioned despite this fear, she walked on and went on as if nothing was wrong.  
She supposed she had to thank her focus of Karate for that.

A part of her was thankful their reunion was so short, that Sera-chan had to go on taxi instead of taking her offer. She didn't think she could go on pretending without letting some emotions out. Ran felt she was not strong enough at the moment - Shinichi had needed a break to function due to whatever turmoil raged within him, and honestly, she felt the same. She needed that break.

The walk home was stressing her, no, _everything_ was stressing her. Ran glanced about as they walked, ensured no one was watching them, that no one was following them. That people walking behind them weren't there for too long or not armed, that no one across the street was watching them with all too curious eyes. Ran's gaze skimmed the crowd as they had been since they left Shinichi's home. Her only reassurance was the hand she held onto, which helped her focus on her current task. She had to get them both home safely.

Her strides got longer, it was stressing her to be out in the open like this. Faster, faster... it was the noises of discomfort and her arm being dragged backwards by _weight_ that jerked Ran out of that state, as she grew very well aware that her charge was struggling to keep up.

"A-ah… sorry, Conan-kun." She said as she stopped and waited for him to catch his breath. "I got a little nervous, is all."

He threw her a worried look, but otherwise said nothing, nodding a little. "It's okay, Ran-neechan. Just remember I can't keep up so well…" Shinichi seemed a little bashful to admit, which she somehow found very funny. At the very least, her laugh wasn't that of hysterics as she slowly started to walk again, Conan-kun dutifully following.

"Sorry, sorry… it won't happen again." She said, trying to keep her pace even, despite her mind spurring her to move forward, to move _faster_.

"It's alright." Conan-kun suddenly spoke up, although his tones were a little more mature than his faux cheer voice. It felt like a mix between both. "We will be home soon, right?" His hand tried to squeeze her own, and boy did he try, but there was only so much those hands could grasp. Ran appreciated the effort, though, squeezing back.

It seemed Shinichi had caught on to her now that she had been far more obvious, but that was okay…  
She was pretty sure he understood.

* * *

Ran only felt safe once she closed the door behind him, watching as Shinichi scoured the kitchen, living room and rooms of the third floor. Her father was still on the second, arguing with mom on the phone again… it made her sigh, but also feel like… there was a sense of normalcy, at least.

"I didn't find any bugs." He reported, quietly. Her shoulders sagged in relief as she rubbed her temples, ruffling his hair for a job well done. She had to take a seat and maybe rest a little…

"I don't know how you live with this, Shinichi." She confessed, keeping her voice down, as she headed to her room to sit on her bed. Some sleep would be nice, even if it was so early… Ran felt far too tense.

He had followed after her, closing the door behind him, then sighed. Now that she was watching, she finally saw his posture relax.

"You get used to it." He said, climbing onto her desk chair and taking a seat. "Unfortunately."

The pressure in the room felt, for some reason, a little too high for her liking. Shinichi sighed.

"Sorry." He apologized, for what was at least the tenth time today. "I… this is why I didn't want to burden anyone with this. Or tell Hattori about Rum. It's, ah… it's nerve wracking." Shinichi chuckled after, but it was stuttered up by his nerves. It was somehow relieving to know she wasn't the only one. "The more you remind yourself about it, the worse it gets…" He trailed off, then shook his head.

"But you… you don't need to worry, Ran." He said, softly, then grinned. "If we act properly, no one will have reasons to come after us... it'll be hard to let go, but try and remember that so it becomes a bit easier."

Ran wanted to be angry, of course she had every right to worry! But the more he spoke the more it made sense, and it quelled the anger that she held within. That's right… all they had to do was act their roles, right?  
It was something they had both been doing for quite some time.

"You're right." She said, running a hand through her hair, then paused.

"Shinichi… we have a lot to talk about." She started, and he turned his attention to her, despite how tired he looked. Ran knew he had already exhausted himself today, but she had to say it. "We have a lot to share, and I have a lot to ask you." Ran paused, then motioned for him to come to sit next to her.

"But I think it can be left for later." She continued as he approached her curiously, although she saw his brows furrow in confusion at her words. He probably thought she wanted to talk right now, despite how thin she felt her resistance to all this stress was."For now…" She lifted him when he was close enough, setting him at her side. Shinichi blinked.

"I just want to ask where we go from here, you know?" Ran laughed nervously after. "Since it's going to be a little weird… things will definitely change, but we need to talk about what."  
She wasn't sure she was being clear.

"We need to define our acts now and how I can help you investigate while still seeming unassuming and stuff." Ran tried to explain further. "How to act around each other… what's allowed… when we can talk like this and how to signal for it?"

Shinichi blinked several times, and she thought she might not have been clear enough, when he opened his mouth and-

"No one had wanted to openly discuss that with me before." He said, sounding about as astounded as he looked. "I guess… it wasn't really a consideration. 'Act as normal, we will figure it out', I guess… it makes more sense to discuss it."

Oh. That's why he looked so bewildered.  
"Seriously? Isn't that a little more dangerous? I'd be more nervous if I didn't know if any line existed or anything…" Ran said, now a little confused herself.

"Aah… I suppose." Shinichi blinked rapidly, then laughed. "You gave this some thought before?"

Ah… caught. "I had…" Ran trailed off. "I had thought about… what would happen if you told me the truth and um… what would happen before, yes." Ran rubbed the back of her head. "Like what I'm supposed to do and such…"

"Hmmmm…" Shinichi seemed a bit pensive.

"We can keep things mostly the same." He said after a few minutes passed. "It'd be a little weird if you let me just wander off…"

Ran huffed. "You aren't wandering off anymore, young man." Reaching down, she poked his nose. "You are telling me what you will be up to unless it's an emergency. None of that running off without a word, alright? Not unless it's urgent."

Shinichi blinked, staring at her finger, then up at her. "... Okay, okay." He said, laughter in his tone as his shoulders relaxed a little. "How about signals. Like 'we need to talk' or 'follow me' or 'follow along'...?" His suggestions sounded solid enough. "Actors need cues to change their act, right?"

"Ohoh… so you WERE listening to your mom when she tried to teach you to act!"

"... Shut it."


	7. Chemical Reaction

For some reason, the house that had been like a second home for him, even now, felt extremely ominous. He didn't really want to take a step forward anymore, staring up at the yellow, dome-like home of Professor Agasa.

"Come on…" Ran gave him a little push, but he refused to budge. "Shinichi!" Her voice was a hissed whisper, of course, but he tensed even more.

"C-can we just pretend this never happened when Haibara is around instead?" Conan asked, sweat starting to form at the back of his neck as he refused to move forward, trying to calm his breathing. "It's not like she hasn't hidden stuff from me, anyway."

"Stop being unreasonable." Ran said, firm, then sighed. "Besides, they're gonna see us standing here anyway." She motioned to what they could see from the kitchen window. Agasa seemed to be washing dishes. Conan's eyes slid past that and to his actual home, to where he saw Subaru reading a newspaper with the curtains drawn. Business as usual.

Unfortunately, Ran was right. He tried to swallow down the budding anxiety, shaking his head a little, and finally took a step forward, then another. It felt like he had lead weights on his legs, really, but at least Ran was patient and moved with him, instead of forcing him. And, soon enough, they were right at the door.

"Erm." He felt his entire body freeze with dread, and Ran sighed, taking the wheel for him. Something he was thankful for, for once. She knocked politely. "Professor!" Ran called, sounding calm as ever. How she did it, he did not know.

Agasa opened the door for them, looking quite amiable. "Ah! Ran-kun and Conan-kun!" He greeted, smile on his face. "Come in, come in." Waving them inside, the man stepped aside, and Conan gulped. Ran once more stepped forward before he did, and he quickly scuttled after, gluing himself to her legs almost.

Agasa raised a brow, wondering what was going on, but Conan did not answer the silent question. The older man closed the door instead, then walked back to the kitchen instead. "What can I do for you?"

Ran looked down at him, and he sighed. He had to stop letting her take over… it was unbecoming of him to behave like this! Steeling himself instead of digging up excuses in his mind, while wondering why exactly he felt this way in the first place, Shinichi spoke.

"I need to talk to you and Haibara. That is…" He glanced up at Ran. "We do." Ran nodded at that, a slightly relieved smile on her face. He supposed his nerves were worrying her too.

"Ah…" Agasa started, then looked like he wasn't sure what to say, looking back and forth between them. "I'll go get her from the lab."

"Actually." Shinichi interrupted. "It might be best if we talk down there."

Agasa looked at them both questioningly, and Ran sighed.

"So we aren't overheard, Professor." Understanding reached the older man's face at her words. He nodded to himself.

"I guess that does make sense…" He said, then lead them both downstairs.

Shinichi had other reasons, albeit similar in trend. There were bugs in the house that he had slowly become aware of. This wasn't something he wanted his _wonderful_ housesitter to overhear.  
Of course, the more they went down, the more he lost his nerve, but by the time they arrived, entered and closed the door, it had been done.

Haibara continued to type on her computer, seemingly unaware until Agasa cleared his throat.  
"Ai-kun, Ran-kun and Conan-kun are here to see you." He started, glancing between the two he had announced and the not-child under his care. Her typing slowed, and she slowly turned her chair.

"What is it?" She asked, sounding a little child like still.  
He wasn't sure how Haibara was going to take it, but he was pretty sure it would not bode well.

Shinichi cleared his throat.

"Due to unforeseen events, we are in full disclosure." He started, watching Haibara as her eyes turned narrow, almost poisonous. "And it's for the best that everyone already in is made aware."

Ran sighed before Haibara could say anything. "You should be more explicit, Shinichi." She said, rubbing her temples. "There's another person also."

"... Right." The stunned silence in the room felt stifling as two pairs of eyes stared at them both, intensely. The beeping from the machinery in the room felt even more pronounced, as if everyone was holding their breath, and only the machinery could not understand the high level of importance in his message.  
"Kazuha-chan also-"

"What the hell do you think you've done?!" Haibara interrupted him, and Shinichi, for a moment, froze, before bristling. He noticed Ran move, but didn't care to look up to see what, exactly, she was doing. He instead focused on his fellow shrunkee, not even noting Agasa's movements.

"Did you really think this was somehow going to work?" Shinichi spat in return. "That I could somehow go on living my life when no one knows I'm in trouble, talking about me liberally?"

"That was your own fault." She said, getting off her chair and looking rather ruffled. He growled.

"Maybe it was, but what was I supposed to do? Let everyone I cared about think I'm dead?!" He asked in return, drawing to his full height. It wasn't much… and they were almost the same size anyway.

"That would have been preferable." Haibara hissed softly.

"Would it, really?" Shinichi fired back. There was a standstill for a moment as Haibara's fist clenched and unclenched.

"It **would** , because then _she_ wouldn't be involved! No one would be! You'll get us both killed, Kudou-kun!"

"How the **hell** do those two facts even correlate?!" Shinichi snapped, losing his temper, voice rising for the first time in the argument. "What have you got against Ran? She's kept my secret better than anyone else!"  
How the hell did she dare think that? Why did it always come to her unveiling his secret?

"Don't talk to me about things you don't understand!" Haibara said back, livid but looking apparently lost.

"Like hell I don't understand." Shinichi stepped forward as well. "Like hell I'm going to keep letting you talk about my friend like this."

Haibara paused, even if it was costing her, and he could tell. As if she was searching for something to say. "The more a secret spreads the more likely it is to be spilled. Do you not understand?"

"So long as you have no control over it!" Shinichi argued back. "Me being alive is the secret we should be concerned about, _not_ this one!" Haibara was taken aback by it, enough that movements stilled in the room.

"... Ran made me realize it when we spoke some time ago." Shinichi said as his posture relaxed. "That people close to me who don't know I'm in trouble but I'm alive are bound to blab it casually to someone. Not the students, no, Hattori took care of that. Sonoko, uncle… anyone is liable to spill. They don't know I'm in trouble, they won't know what they shouldn't say offhand."

Haibara seemed perplexed, then pensive, hand raising to her chin.

"I'm still not happy about this." She growled. "Why didn't you tell me? Why did you let it happen?"

Ran stepped in before he could say anything. "About that…" Haibara turned sharply, as if she forgot anyone else was in the room. "It's kind of…" A pause "-we kind of cornered him into it." She said, sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. Haibara seemed to have a mixed expression of approval of methodology, torn by her want to keep everything under wraps.

"And, well, I didn't want to tell you until I could tell Kazuha-chan and Ran what was going on." Haibara threw him a dirty look.

"You mean to tell me you had a chance to not say anything in detail?" She hissed, outraged. "You shouldn't have said anything!"

"That's **exactly** why I didn't tell you anything!" Tempers were flaring again, and Shinichi was doing absolutely nothing to stop his own. "You'd force me to call it all a farce! To make something up! To be dishonest again!"

"And why shouldn't you be? People shouldn't be brought into this!" He refused to take this proposal as a possibility.  
They were back at it again. Shinichi didn't care.

"Why? It's not like they won't be involved!" Shinichi almost yelled. "I _live_ with Ran. She's bound to run into this shit by being connected to **me**. Either version." He then tried to school his tone, shoulders tense, but feeling a hand on them. From size he could tell it was Ran's, and he could see the professor approaching Haibara as well. "It sounds to me like I have more to gain if we have more eyes that know what to look out for!"

"You just don't get it, do you?" Haibara asked, her fists clenching and shoulders stiffening.

"Maybe I don't." Shinichi hissed in return. Ran decided to break it up.

"It already happened." She reminded them both. "Please, stop. Both of you."  
It took all of Shinichi to not be rebellious at her words. He clenched his fists as well.

"It has to be settled." He argued softly against her words, body loosening. "Or we will both hold this bitterly."

"Don't lump me with you." Haibara responded with a huff, and Shinichi narrowed his eyes.

"As if you wouldn't."

"Stop." Ran said, her voice more firm this time as she squeezed his shoulder, pulling back a little to separate the two not-children slightly.

Agasa sighed. "Ran-kun is right. It already happened. All we have to do is work with it now." He said, trying to keep his voice soothing, but Haibara didn't seem to be taking it well.

"Well, if this idiot refuses to understand, it's going to happen again."

"Understand what?" Shinichi asked in response, his eyes narrowing. "All I can see is that you can give no reasons to your words other than paranoia."

"Because I know how they work!" Haibara sounded borderline desperate. "Knowing didn't save my sister! It doomed her!"

There it was. Shinichi froze, then shook his head.

"Your sister was already in, Haibara." He said, gravely. "It's a completely different situation from a detached civilian."

"Is it, really?" Haibara asked with a hiss.

"Yes. It is." They stared at each other again, gauging each other, and Haibara finally stepped down.

"If this kills all of us, you know who to blame." She said instead, turning away and crossing her arms.

The room fell into silence once more.

Ran sighed, softly, then eyed Haibara. Shinichi didn't know what she was thinking, but she seemed to be considering a plan of action.

And then, she spoke. "About being involved…" Ran started, and Haibara, too, turned to her. "Wouldn't I have been, already?" She asked, then rubbed the back of her head, looking a little sheepish, as if unsure of how to word it. "At the port… and with something Shinichi said…" She paused.

"I do believe I've encountered, um… her name is Vermouth, right?"  
Haibara turned as white as a sheet, and for good reason, as Shinichi suddenly felt his rage go from simmering to a fever pitch.

"When were you planning to tell me about this?" Shinichi asked, his voice suddenly like ice. Haibara stumbled back, and the professor tried to help her stay up.

"I…"

"Why did you not tell me about this?" Shinichi continued, and he could make out Ran in the corner of her eyes, looking like somehow who had, accidentally, set off a bomb.

"..." Haibara did not respond, refusing to look at him.

"You keep saying that people should not be involved! That we should keep them safe by not saying a word, and yet here she is!" His hand made a motion, from his chest towards Ran. "The port, Haibara. You neglected to tell me **_Ran had been right there_**."

Silence, deafening.

"What. The. Hell." His voice dripped with what was borderline malice, hands clenched, body tense and coiled, arms firmly at his sides as he tried to contain the boiling rage he felt inside.

"Shinichi-"

He raised his hand when Ran tried to interrupt him. "No." Shinichi shook his head as he spoke. No interruptions.

"I want to know exactly why the person who keeps insisting I say nothing to keep everyone safe, you safe, decided to not tell me about THIS." He yelled out. "You're mad I didn't tell you about Kazuha-chan and Ran learning my identity? You're mad I told them more? How mad do you think I am - when you're the one neglecting to mention Ran is _already involved_!"

Haibara flinched. He didn't stop, seeing red, but controling his composure to at least not break into hysterical yelling.

"The one telling me to keep my secrets, to keep my mouth shut, warning me and telling me how I'll be the demise of everyone I care about if I slip… is the one who neglected to mention this to me! Tell me, what was the **point**?"

His anger left him, and his shoulders sagged.  
"What was the point of keeping up this farce, Haibara?"

Shinichi was just tired, exhausted.

Haibara let out a sigh.

"Maybe I don't have an excuse." Haibara finally said as silence dominated the room.  
"I kept seeing Mouri-san…" She started, then clenched her fists. Shinichi knew she was having a hard time showing this part of herself. "And I saw the sister I lost in her. Maybe if I kept denying it happened…"

"Maybe I could fool myself into the comfort of thinking, 'at least she will be okay'."

Shinichi took a breath, then sighed. He felt his anger ebbing away, even if part of it will remain. He was still upset, hell, he was extremely disappointed in Haibara.  
But he could understand her reasons, and it's what bit at him the most.

"Look, just…" Shinichi started, then rubbed his temples. "I think we both need a little break."

Haibara nodded silently, and Shinichi motioned to the door. Agasa sighed as he felt the tension leave, hand rubbing Haibara's back before letting her get back to work on her computer. "I'll be right up." He said, softly.

Shinichi nodded. Those two were like family now. "We'll be upstairs." He said, voice a little hoarse, as Ran opened the door for them. They headed up once it was closed, then to the livingroom in silence.  
They could both see Subaru 'reading' from the window, he looked over and threw an eyebrow raise their way.

Ran shook her head towards him, then headed to sit on the sofa. Right… she knew he was FBI. Doubtful the guy could see him from that vantage point, Shinichi merely followed and seated himself next to her, allowing his Conan persona to retur. These were not safe grounds.

"Do you think I should make them tea?" Ran spoke after a few minutes of silence, looking down at him.

"I think it'd be a nice gesture." Conan said in response, and Ran raised a brow, but did not question his attitude change, heading to the kitchen.

For a moment, there was silence, then,

"You two need to make up, you know. You were very rough on her." Ran said from the kitchen, boiling some water. He could spot Subaru from the window, it looks like he was trying to spot him.

"She was mean to you too." Conan said, despondently, and huffed, crossing his arms. "A big jerk! She has to apologize, too."

"Don't be like that." She said, softly. "She was just scared."

"I think you shouldn't give people excuses to be mean to you, Ran-neechan." Conan gave her a glance of concern. "You have every right to be mad too."

"Maybe." Ran said, but then gave him a little wise, perhaps one wiser than someone of her years should wear. "But will that really do anything helpful?"

Conan blinked as she disappeared down the stairs, tray on hand with tea for the two scientists.

Maybe she had a point. It still didn't stop the hurt in his chest, though.  
He wanted a full explanation of what had gone down the port…

* * *

Ran soon returned, calling him down again. He sighed, hopping off the sofa where he had dozed off on, then headed down to the laboratory.

She closed the door behind him, and Haibara seemed to be looking a little better than she did when he had left her. He sighed.

"I was a little rough on you." Shinichi said, rubbing the back of his head. Ran bumped him with her knee. He huffed.  
"... Sorry about that." He finally said, bowing his head.

"And you're right - we're both in this. I should have informed you, I just…" He paused. "I didn't want you to force me to strain this more when I had already given my word. But it still remains, we're both in it together."

"I had sworn I'd shoot you both if you did that." Haibara said, then sighed, leaning back on her chair. "One day, I might." It didn't sound like a serious warning, though.

"... I must apologize as well. I suppose it was underhanded of me to not inform you about…" She waved her wrist, trying to not word it while saying it. "That."

And then, the scientist sat up straight, clasping her hands together.  
"Mouri-san did pull quite the stunt when you were knocked out, though."

Shinichi blinked, then tilted his head. "Uh… and that would be?" He asked, a little nervous. Ran laughed at that and waved it off.

"Nothing, nothing, just…"

"Why were you even at the port, Ran?" Shinichi asked, eyeing the two who seemed to be at a loss for words.

"Um." Ran started, then laughed nervously. "Truth is… I was a little unnerved, see?"  
Haibara seemed interested as well, she didn't seem to know either. Huh.

"Unnerved?" He asked, blinking rapidly.

"I found some pictures behind Jodie-sensei's mirror in the bathroom…" She started, and Shinichi's mouth formed a small 'o'. "But I thought I could just ask her about it… she couldn't possibly be a bad person, right?" Ran giggled a little. "But it was worrying, so I was going to ask her about it, but realized she was heading out with a serious look on her face…"

Ran trailed off.

"So I hid in her car trunk?"

"You **what**?!" Shinichi sputtered, and Haibara looked equally appalled. Professor Agasa looked like he wanted to laugh. At him. He pointedly ignored it.

"Wow, she's just as reckless as you." Haibara commented what the professor kept to himself. "Shut it." He grumbled as Ran laughed a little.

"It certainly _was_ reckless of me, though." She said. "And then, I suddenly heard gunshots! I had to do something…"

"And so, she literally burst out of the car to shield me from gunfire. While being shot at by a sniper." Haibara recounted, sounding like she still didn't believe it. Ran laughed a little, nervous.

"I wasn't really sure I'd make it… but I had to try, right?"

Shinichi, however, felt faint. "You could have both died." He uttered, not in anger at them, but in utter disbelief at himself. "And I was tranquilized."

Haibara sort of hung her head after that. "I realize that part was sort of my fault." She said, and Ran seemed to look at them questioningly. "But what the hell WAS your plan? If Vermouth didn't seem to want to keep you alive… for some reason." Haibara asked, now morbidly curious.

"Uh." Shinichi started, then gave her a grin. "About as reckless as Ran's?" He said, weakly. Ran sighed.

"What even WAS going on, anyway? I didn't hear anything other than the gunshots."

"... I guess we should start from the beginning, then." The professor sighed, pulling out a chair for himself and taking a seat.

"I had a hand in it too, so I can say what happened from my end as well." He said, trailing off.

"But it's good, isn't it? We're talking like this and all…" The professor continued, then smiled a little.

"It is." Shinichi affirmed.

* * *

"I can't believe you went and confronted Vermouth that time." Shinichi said, rubbing his temples in disbelief. That had been… a lot.

"I had to know. Besides, she… it honestly felt like she was looking out for me." Ran said, voice soft, and she looked like she had a lot to think about as well.

A lot of information had been shared over the course of two hours, leaving him feeling a little lightheaded. There was a lot more he had not been aware of, and it actually made him quite uncomfortable.

To think Ran had gained information he wouldn't have had access to if they hadn't talked like this… he felt a little grateful for coming, other than the fact that there was a huge weight off his chest. Granted, it was replaced with some smidge of resentment… but he felt that'd leave in time.

Haibara crossed her arms. "I still don't trust that woman." She said, quite simply. "She wanted to do away with me entirely on that train." Ran gave her a sympathetic look then, and Shinichi shrugged.

"She hasn't come after you, though, has she?" Agasa mentioned, seemingly pensive as he stroked his 'stache. Now that the fight was over, the older man was being more talkative. "She probably has her reasons… but I feel she's still a dangerous person."

"She is." Shinichi affirmed, then leaned back. "But with what Ran says, it makes sense that Vermouth had intended to kill you, Haibara." He then raised his hands in apology. "Not that we would have let her, or at least, we would have done our best to avoid it, but…"

He trailed off.

"Had you been taken prisoner, then shrunk in their grasp…" Shinichi let the rest speak for itself, and Haibara frowned then.

"You think she was doing it to protect that secret?" While her voice was a little incredulous, he knew from her eyes that she could see a basis in the theory.

"I do." Shinichi completed, crossing one leg atop the other as he sat on a stack of boxeson the floor. Ran herself was pensive, leaning against the walls of the lab to prop herself up.

"I'm still kind of shocked, really…" Ran clasped her hands together. "That the person then was Sharon… I guess from everything and what I remember your mom told me as a message from her… it makes sense, doesn't it?" She looked at them all, then smiled. "But it's such a flattering nickname…"

"Well, regardless of what she's said, I feel Vermouth is still a loose canon here." Shinichi said, stretching himself before standing. "So let us avoid approaching her without a plan, okay?" He threw a glance mostly at Ran, who stuck her tongue at him. 'How was I supposed to know?', he was sure she was trying to say, and she was right.

"It's enough business talk for today, though… we don't want anyone wandering into the house to find it empty." Agasa stood and patted down his pants. "How about some snacks? I have some in the pantry… although a lot is sugar free." He laughed nervously at that, but Haibara seemed to have an approving face.  
The diet chronicles, he supposed.

"Yeah, yeah… that's enough indeed."

It was better to save more talk for when all of them had had time to digest the information shared today.


	8. Journey

"It's a little crowded on the train, isn't it?" Ran asked, eyeing the other passangers with them.

"Mhm." Conan grunted in return.

"It's too bad we don't have a seat, but that older lady needed it more than we do."

"Mhm."

"We'll be arriving soon, though."

"...mhm."

Ran blinked, looking at him, then laughed, holding him tighter to herself. "Relax, Conan-kun." He squirmed, not sure how to feel about the situation entirely. "It's better like this, then I won't lose sight of you."

He sighed, ears pink, but there was nothing he could do about that. "Couldn't you hold me up in a different way?" Conan asked, borderline whining. Her grip had him pressed against her front, sitting on her left arm and facing towards her, his arms on her shoulders as her right hand supported his back.

"Ara, you like the bridal hold more?" She asked, grinning ear to ear almost, and he had to hold back a sputter, instead shaking his head vehemently.

"N-nevermind, this is fine." Conan squeaked, pressing his right hand against his face before using it to rub his temples. He was trying to look cool, really, but the position felt rather compromising to _him_ , specifically. "My knees aren't bothering you, are they?" He asked, this time his voice lower and with a bit more care.

There was pause. "Maybe a little." Ran admitted, but smiled at him. "But it's nothing I can't handle. Besides, you're fairly light."

"Hah…" Conan gruffed, not at all sounding amused. "Isn't the pressure mostly from maintaining a hold on something rather than the lift?" As he asked, he shifted to be a bit more comfortable, now his right side was facing her more, and it made his knees not press against her torso. Ran seemed to appreciate the gesture.

"It's not like I can swaddle you in cloth and tie you to my back." Ran said with a laugh. "Consider it training for Karate."

Conan sighed. "Alright, alright." He said, deciding he might as well make himself comfortable, somewhat leaning against her as he noted their position on the railway. They would arrive to Osaka soon. "It's still kind of an embarrassing position." He grumbled to himself.

"I'm sure it is." Ran said smoothly, snickering to herself. "It must be so embarrassing to be carried around by me, hm?" She looked thoroughly amused.

"Maybe not entirely embarrassing…" Conan said as he trailed off. "I just like doing things myself! That's all." Ran laughed a little.

"Well, it's too crowded and you'll get crushed. Relax, alright?"

Conan sighed. "Right as always." He tried to hide a smile.

* * *

"Be free, small child." Ran said upon releasing him on the ground, once they were out of the train and onto the station. He spotted Hattori and Kazuha-chan right away.

"Ugh, yes, solid ground!" Conan said as he darted off and towards them, Ran following at a more leisurely pace. From what he could hear before the Osakan pair turned around, they were discussing the finer points of tsuyu.

Kazuha-chan stood up right away, then swooped him up when he least expected as he reached her grabbing range. "Hello, Conan-kun!" She greeted as she held him, hands at his sides under his armpits. He frowned in return, kicking his legs idly.

"Ground, please!" He said, pouting, as Ran caught up.

"He's just a little cranky because I had to hold him the entire trip." Ran said with a laugh, and Hattori laughed with her as Kazuha-chan set him down. "The train was really crowded."

"It's tha weekend, I guess." Said Kazuha, eyeing the sheer amount of passengers walking past them and to the gates out of the station.  
Hattori seemed to be having a hard time standing up, holding his sides while wheezing. Man, the guy wasn't going to let this go.

"Anyway, how have you two been? Aside from the stuff we've talked about." Ran continued as if nothing had happened, and as she and Kazuha-chan started to idly chatter, Conan walked up to Hattori, kicking his leg lightly.

"Ow! Ya bratty kid!" Hattori exclaimed, then laughed harder.

"Don't make me actually put force into that." Conan warned, and Hattori waved his arm a little in defeat with a wheeze.

"Alright, alright, ya toddler terror." Conan grinned at that.

"So, where are we going, Heiji-niichan?" He asked as he swayed a bit where he stood. Hattori raised a brow, then grinned, ruffling his hair before standing up. "Don'tcha remember, kiddo? I gotta show ya two tha best food joint in town." Puffing his chest proudly, Hattori then lowered his voice while leaning towards Conan.

"Ya look a lot more relaxed today, Kudou." He said, and Shinichi realized his friend had been concerned. Considering last time… "And yer act is a lot more natural too."

"Guess so." He said in return, grinning a little. "It's done me far more favors that I could have imagined… letting that out and all." The osakan detective grinned at that.

"I knew some truth would do ya good, Kudou. It's no good keepin' all that bottled up all tha time." He nodded to himself, and Shinichi smiled softly.

"It really isn't."

Hattori stood back up, nodding to his friend, then walked to the two girls. "Ready ta go, Neechan?" He asked, looking at Ran, and Conan walked up right behind him, then further forward than where his friend had stopped.

"Yep!" Ran said, smiling a little as her charge stopped at her side.

"We were just talkin' about how much easier it is ta look after Conan-kun than it is to look after ya, Heiji." Kazuha-chan said with a big, teasing grin on her face.

"Ya little-" Hattori started, taking a lazy swing at Kazuha-chan, who dodged with equal lack of fervor. They both laughed. "Maybe I **am** too much ta handle, tho." As he said that, his brows wiggled, and Kazuha-chan laughed.

"Too much." Kazuha-chan repeated, sticking her tongue out, then motioned for them to follow. Hattori started up next to her and, soon enough, they walked together out the station and through the streets of Osaka. Even with all the visitors, it wasn't very crowded like Tokyo normally was. Despite the fact, Ran reached down, grasping his hand out of habit.

He didn't mind.

"What was that you were talking about earlier? About the sauce for cold soba…" Conan asked, a little curious. While he wasn't much of a culinary person, he knew it was a sort of topic the other three enjoyed, and he wasn't as much up for participating in a talk as much as listening at the moment.

"Ah, yeah. Tha tsuyu." Hattori said, nodding to himself. "We were talkin' 'bout tha homemade preparation. Kazuha's mom does it different than mine."

Kazuha-chan nodded at that. "She does! So we were wonderin' if there was a more efficient method between them both, or if it didn't matter." They both seemed pensive at this, and Ran laughed a little.

"Mind telling me about it? I don't know how either of them makes it." She spoke, curious. "I usually buy ours… unless I have time to make it myself." That's right… you could just buy it as well. It was somewhat more expensive, but they didn't often have cold soba anyway.  
There was a difference between homemade tsuyu and premade, but Conan had always felt it was not very significant.

As the three teens who looked their age continued to chat, Conan merely listened in, taking comfort in idle chatter about homely matters.

* * *

Osaka not being as crowded as Tokyo did not mean it was not crowded at all. As they walked to the Okonomiyaki-ya, Conan often felt he was being pushed by moving crowds when near intersections. His grip on Ran's hand tightened.

"Just a couple more, okay?" Hattori said over his shoulder as they cleared yet another clogged crossing. Conan adjusted his bowtie and shirt with an annoyed grunt.

"I still feel we ought ta carry tha lil' guy." Kazuha-chan said, although there was less jest and more concern in her tone. Conan sighed and continued to trudge alongside Ran. Her grip got firmer the more their friends talked. "I almost got pulled away this time."

"It'll get better on the less busy crosswalks, ya know." Hattori said in a tone that sounded like he was reminding her of it. Kazuha-chan rolled her eyes.  
"They won't be calm 'cuz it's tha weekend, ahou!"

Ran sighed. "Just stay close, alright?"

Conan could only hope this would be over soon, and as another crowd seemed to be incoming, he groaned and braced himself.

* * *

Now, arriving, Hattori ushered them to the place him and Kazuha-chan usually sat at. Conan felt glad that they had finally reached the location, especially after Hattori had to fish him out of a passing crowd when his and Ran's grips momentarily slipped.

God, that was more terrifying than he'd like to admit.  
He was used to it, due to how busy places like Shibuya got, but he felt at the same time that it had never really been this bad.  
Perspective, maybe.

"Hey old man!" Hattori greeted the owner as Conan got on the stool, finally done fixing his outfit. "Yo, Hattori-kun." The man greeted him in turn, a grin on his face. "What will it be?"

"The usual, four of 'em!" The rest had taken their seats, and the owner laughed, nodding to the order. "We gotta show these Tokyoites what good okonomiyaki tastes like!"

Kazuha-chan snickered, and the owner laughed boisterously. "I'll see what I can do, then!" The man said, good naturedly and got to work. Conan snorted.

"Does it really have to be a competition?" He asked, eyeing their positions now that they had settled. Kazuha-chan, Hattori, himself, then Ran - Ran was next to the wall, and Kazuha-chan closest to the exit. His eyes then gazed at the patrons, there weren't as many around, but the place seemed to be doing well in the business department. No one seemed to be looking their way.

Well, he didn't feel too comfortable with the placement, but he supposed it was fine if it was Hattori's favorite seats, to which he had claimed before they arrived.

"Of course! Ya showed us a good joint, so we gotta show ya one that's even better." Heiji said, grinning widely, and Kazuha-chan gave a wise nod.

"It's serious if it's about food." Kazuha-chan reasoned, grinning widely. "This is tha food capital!"

Ran sighed, shaking her head with a smile on her face, then glanced about the restaurant before her shoulders relaxed. She had been doing that a lot, he noticed. Casing a room… making sure to keep an eye on her surroundings. He knew why now, of course, and it was something he often did himself, but it reminded him about the realities of their situation as it was now.  
Ran was no longer safe from the knowledge about dangerous people who lurked in the shadows.

He took his mind off it, instead turning to their hosts.

"I guess…" Conan said as he leaned forward, propping his elbows onto the table, then resting his chin on his interlocked hands. "But it's kind of amazing, both of you know a lot about food!" He continued, a glint in his eyes. "I guess it means you'll split cooking duty, right?"

Hattori sputtered, and Kazuha-chan turned various shades of red. "What's that supposed ta mean?!" Hattori managed to say between stumbled words, while Kazuha-chan slowly hid her face with her hands.

Ran blinked, then grinned a little. "Ah, Conan-kun… maybe they haven't done much work together in the kitchen." She said, ever calm as she clasped her hands together. Conan looked up to her then back to their hosts.

"Hmmm…" He said, pensive. "I guess not. Heiji-niichan isn't very good at cutting veggies, like me." He reasoned, and Hattori went from sputters to laughter then. "That we ain't!" He declared, and Kazuha's blush problem seemed to calm.  
"But I guess they need to practice, right? If they end up-" Hattori yelled over him. "FINISH THAT, I DARE YOU."

"-living together." Conan finished, rather cheekily. It looked like Kazuha-chan and Hattori both had stopped computing.

"Oh my!" Said Ran, not making anything any better for their victims.

"Yer not at tha right age ta be thinkin' 'bout that, kiddo!" Hattori yelped out, eye twitching. He was pretty sure the guy was supressing a 'damn ya, Kudou!' or something similar.

"Thinking about what?" He instead continued to press, testing his friend's patience for a punchline.

"A-a-... 'Bout marriage, ya twerp! Or co-habitin'!" Hattori tried to explain, limbs askew. Kazuha-chan looked like she was ascending.

"Oh… but Ran-neechan and I aren't married, and we live in the same house." He finally said, kicking out his legs cheekily. "I just thought since you both are such good friends, you might end up being roommates if you move out!"

Hattori looked like he had just lost ten years of his life, and it looked like other patrons were looking on before laughing to themselves. Kazuha-chan squeaked to life, then punched Hattori on the shoulder, although he was pretty sure the one she wanted to get to was himself. Ran was too busy laughing to do much else.

The owner himself was laughing as well. "What a cheeky kid." He said with a chuckle, getting back to his meal preparation. It wouldn't be much longer, he could already smell the food.

"Ya sure love to yank people's chains don'tcha…" Hattori started, sounding somewhat malicious. Conan raised his arms in surrender. "I bet yer just bein' cheeky cuz ya wanna marry that Neechan." He said this in a quieter tone, as to not attract attention, but seemed to be wearing a pretty cheeky look.

"You'd be right, but I think I'll stick to just staying over until I'm big." He said, not even batting an eye as the nervousness left him. Hattori scowled a little, since the jab didn't work, and Kazuha-chan rolled her eyes.

"That was weak, Heiji." She said, disapproving. "Ya can't shake 'im with that."

Hattori huffed, then blinked, looking behind him. "Ah… we have an unfortunate casualty." Conan turned to find Ran a blushing mess, face hidden behind her hands as she supported herself against the wall, a soft noise escaping her throat.

"Oh no."

Their plates were served then.

* * *

"So…" Kazuha started, and he saw her mull over her words. She was likely about to ask something about That, and trying to find how to word herself to not sound suspicious or give anything away to any passing listener.  
He appreciated the thought.

Their meal had been splendid, really, and him and Ran had complimented the owner and cook heavily. He could definitely see why Hattori praised the place so much. In fact, he looked like the cat who got the cream, but he felt a little bit like a winner here as well. After all, they got to actually try the food, right?

"Yer niichan is ill all tha time, right? How did he manage ta come ta tha play that time?" She asked, looking at Conan with a faux concerned expression. It took him a moment to realize she meant that play, and he flushed a little while trying to cover it behind a cough.

"Some medicine made by a specialist… it's not perfect, though." He said after some thought, trying to string his words into something that Kazuha-chan could understand but would still be 'coded'. "It only helps him temporarily… to get past his illness and do stuff." He supposed that would do it. No one was listening, as far as he could tell, but it didn't hurt to be a little careful.

It was hard to get into this habit, but from this whole unveiling issue he had realized how often he casually spoke to people about antidotes and the like… what if someone overheard them? He felt his paranoia had gone up a few notches… but at the same time gone down. How the hell did that work?

"It's pretty, um…" Conan trailed off, then lowered his voice. "Painful." He then coughed into his hand, trying to pass it off as if nothing had happened. "It's why he can't come so often… hopefully, a true remedy is found."

Hattori shifted a little, then nudged Kazuha-chan. "Ya know tha whole thing where I had ta help him ta tha restroom?" He asked, looking at both of the girls back and forth. "Tha medicine's effect, ah, ran out."

Understanding dawned, sooner on Ran than on Kazuha-chan, he was sure, since he found himself in her embrace once more some seconds before Kazuha-chan's hand rose to her mouth.  
"Oh." She said.

Of course, Conan was a little beyond noticing little details at the moment, as the rest kind of went over his head. It was hard to focus when Ran was hugging him so hard that he was having a hard time breathing. "Ra-Ran-neechan." He whined, and she finally loosened her grip. He took a deep breath after, feeling a little sore. She had not released him yet, though, but it was something.

"But after the play, he didn't…" Kazuha-chan tried to elaborate, but was only able to gesture a little to try to get her point across. "Oh yea… that was weird." Hattori said in response, and both looked to Conan, who was still tangled in Ran's arms.  
He stared back at them in minor disbelief, then shrugged.

"I guess his body was fighting it… it was the first try." He honestly wasn't sure what could have caused it anyway. Ran lifted him a little higher, cheek against her own now, and he gulped. They were so close right now… it was distracting. And then, she set him down, onto her lap, with her hands gripping his shoulders.

His right hand rose to grasp at her left gently, but he kept his eyes on their hosts.

"Really?" Kazuha-chan asked, pensive. "And, um… when he first met Heiji…?"

"An accident." Conan said, eyeing Hattori, who nodded. He mouthed something to Kazuha-chan, who seemed to understand. It looked like 'I'll explain later'.

"It must hurt a lot." Ran suddenly spoke up, her hands squeezing his shoulders. "I hope it becomes more painless for him soon." Her voice was earnest, and he honestly shared the sentiment. Conan nodded softly, his gaze falling to his lap. There was a bit more silence, and then…

"Well, time ta go. There's some places I wanna show ya both before ya go." Hattori said, clapping his hands together as he stood up. Smooth. Kazuha-chan huffed.

"Ya need ta work on how ta subtly direct tha conversation, Heiji." She said with a roll of her eyes. "That sounded so artificial."

"Not like ya do any better." He argued in return. Kazuha-chan stood to face him then, and Ran sighed, setting him on the floor before getting up herself. "Let's go, then." She said, ignoring the argument and thanking the owner for their meal, setting down her payment. Their friends followed suit, and Conan felt a little bad that he couldn't really… do that kind of thing right now.  
A lot of things.

Swallowing down those feelings, he followed them out, hand in hand with his childhood friend.

* * *

Of course it couldn't have ended on a high note.

It had to be a murder, right on the park they were detouring through to get back to the train. What made it even more akward, at least to Conan, was that they were dealing with the Osaka police force now. And Hattori's father just so happened to also make an appearance. The man, in his opinion, could be downright terrifying at times.

At the very least, it meant they actually didn't have to do as much. The murder wasn't very involved, the trick relied mostly on misdirection rather than some sort of elaborate ruse, and they had managed to track down a decent amount of witnesses. No smart man murdered at a park.

Or murdered at all, but unfortunately, he supposed the world was devoid of them, considering their particular luck when it came to cases. What was the world coming to?

"How ya managed ta solve cases when we kept carting ya around, I'll never know." Kazuha-chan said once it was over. "Altho' I guess Heiji managed ta cart ya right back into tha heat of things…" It seemed she remembered just how many times Hattori had towed him off. Conan shrugged, and Hattori snorted a laugh.

"Well, we made short work of that case." He said, then sighed. "Kinda hard ta take credit when yer old man steals yer thunder." Conan, at the very least, gave him a sympathetic look.

"At least it's solved, and before the trains stop running, too!" It was getting late, after all. Conan was a little worried about that.

"I would have hated to intrude…" Ran added, a little shy, and gave Hattori and Kazuha-chan a smile.

"Nonsense! If ya had ta, my house is pretty big!" Hattori grinned widely. "Kazuha could stay as well and we could stay up and chat or somethin'." Kazuha-chan seemed to like the idea. Unfortunately for them, Conan was a little saturated from Osaka, and they had plans.

"Maybe next time, I'd love to take up that offer." Ran smiled in return, squeezing his hand, and Conan sighed, giving a nod.  
Well, he actually WOULD like that. Talking in private was nice, provided it WAS private. Especially with friends who knew, and all.

"Maybe we should set aside a date, then?" Conan asked, blinking. Hattori puffed his chest.  
"Leave that ta me, then. Ya organized tha last one… this one was on a whim." It was - they had just come on a dime and Hattori's message. At least it was a day on the weekend.

"It's decided, then!" Kazuha-chan said, then sighed, motioning ahead. They had reached the station, and he doubted they felt up for buying a cheap ticket to see them off.  
"I guess we part on that, huh?" She said, then reached down, ruffling his hair, before giving Ran a tight hug, which she returned. Conan huffed, fixing his hair, then bumped his friend's fist-

Only to be dragged in a semi hug as Hattori slung an arm around his neck, pulling him forward while leaning down against him. "See ya, kiddo!" He said, a wide grin on his face as Conan tried to scramble off the hold.

"Ew, Heiji-niichan germs!" Hattori laughed, letting him go, and then proceeded to firmly shake hands with Ran. "See ya, Neechan. Take care of yerself… and the midget, I guess." Conan huffed.

Kazuha-chan, winking at Ran, waved them off, and Ran smiled before leading him to the station. Conan walked with her, turning back to see them both waving from where they stood at the entrance. He waved back somewhat, feeling a little sad at having to leave.

Despite all their banter that could sometimes take a turn, he really did enjoy spending time with them both, alongside his childhood friend. It just felt so… liberating.

As their line departed towards Tokyo, seated side by side, Kudou Shinichi daydreamed of what it'd be like if he could be himself.

One day, he hoped, it'll become his reality.

* * *

 **A/N**

And with that, All Night Gang comes to a close. At least, the written part.

Originally, I wasn't going to post the rest of what I wrote here, but I hate leaving things incomplete. As such, I have caught this fic up to speed, and it is finally over. Any other works about this sort of au, will probably be drawn out or turned into small comics.

Thank you for all your kind reviews, I am glad that people enjoyed this ride, maybe more than I enjoyed writing it. I think it's a good way to end my posting on this site.


End file.
